The next nationwide rail strike is due to hit on Saturday 8 October.
It involves more than 40,000 members of the RMT union working for Network Rail and 14 individual train operators. The union said that these strikes will “effectively shut down the railway network”.
Around 5,000 signallers will walk-out, meaning half the rail network will be closed, with a much-reduced service on the remainder. Non-union members will enable a service to run between 7.30am and 6.30pm across about half the network.
It’s estimated around one in five (20 per cent) of train services will run.
But which trains are off the menu and which will be operating?
Which train companies are affected by the strike?
As well as signallers, staff at 14 train operators are affected by the RMT stoppage.
They are:
- Avanti West Coast
- c2c
- Chiltern Railways
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Railway
- Greater Anglia
- Great Western Railway
- GTR (including Great Northern, Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express)
- LNER
- Northern
- Southeastern
- South Western Railway
- TransPennine Express
- West Midlands Trains
London Overground train drivers are also walking out.
Will all trains with these operators be cancelled?
No. East Midlands Railway will run hourly trains in each direction from London to Sheffield via Derby, Nottingham via Leicester and Corby via Luton airport.
There will also be hourly links from Derby to both Matlock and Nottingham, and between Sheffield and Nottingham.
Southeastern will operate high-speed services from St Pancras to Ashford, as well as shorter, slower journeys from London Bridge to Sevenoaks and to Dartford on routes via Greenwich, Blackheath and Bexley.
Non-union staff will operate some trains for other operators, allowing a limited service for passengers on LNER and Great Western Railway, for example.
Will trains with other companies be operating as normal?
No. Rail staff working for a number of firms including Grand Central, Lumo, Merseyrail, ScotRail and Transport for Wales are not striking - but all these operators will see serious disruption due to the 5,000 signallers walking out.
The Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators, says: “With trains starting later and finishing much earlier than usual, passengers are asked to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary. Those who must travel should expect disruption, plan ahead and check when their last train will depart.”
Eurostar’s international trains from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam will also be affected. On 8 October, trains will not run early in the morning or through the evening.
