Rail Strikes 23, 27, 30 July, 18 and 20 August

Train operator Greater Anglia plans to run a heavily reduced service during the next rail strike on Saturday 23 July whilst major engineering works will take place on routes into London Sunday 24 July.

With drivers on strike only about 10 per cent of rail services with run on Saturday; Greater Anglia is urging people to avoid travelling.

No East Suffolk Lines Services

Trains will not be running on the East Suffolk Lines or the other regional routes and branch lines on Saturday. No Greater Anglia services between Cambridge/Bishops Stortford and London Liverpool Street will run.

Reduced Services 23 July – One Train per hour

The following routes will see services reduced to one train an hour:

• Norwich-London Liverpool Street Intercity service. First and last trains from Norwich at 08.00 and 19.00, and from Liverpool Street at 10.30 and 21.30
• Colchester-London Liverpool Street. First and last trains from Colchester at 08.13 and 20.13, and from Liverpool Street at 10.00 and 22.00
• Southend Victoria- London Liverpool Street. First and last trains from Southend Victoria at 08.13 and 22.00, and from Liverpool Street at 09.47 and 23.45
• Stansted Express Stansted Airport-London Liverpool Street. First and last trains from Stansted Airport at 05.30 and 00.30, and from Liverpool Street at 04.10 and 23.25

Note: There will be no rail replacement bus service for any of the trains which are not running on Saturday 23 July due to the strike.

The strike will also have a knock-on effect Sunday morning with some services starting later than usual.

Passengers can use tickets bought for a strike day either the day before or the two days after the strike day, or can change their ticket to a different date or get a refund.

On Sunday 24 July, there are major engineering works on all Greater Anglia routes into London, with rail replacement bus services for part of the journey.

Altenatives on Saturday 23 July

The Elizabeth line, c2c, Cross Country, EMR, Great Northern and London Overground are not affected by strike action on Saturday 23 July, so their services may be a helpful alternative for some journeys.

Local bus operators may also be an option for some shorter distance journeys.

Engineering Works into London Sunday 24 July

Rail replacement buses will operate where engineering works are taking place on Sunday 24 July. They are expected to be very busy with long queues as more people than usual are likely to travel on Sunday as a result of Saturday’s strike.

Full timetables will be available online.

Additional Strikes

Unions have announced further national strike dates for Wednesday 27 July, Saturday 30, Thursday 18 August and Saturday 20 August July. Talks to resolve issues are continuing.

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director said: “We know that the weekend of 23/24 July is really busy – the start of the summer holidays, the Latitude Festival and other events in London.

“We are genuinely very sorry for all the inconvenience these strikes will cause our customers, especially on Saturday 23 July when it’s followed by major engineering works the next day, when we anticipate more people might be travelling because they’re unable to make their journeys on Saturday.

“Negotiations to try to resolve the pay issue causing the strikes are continuing at an industry level and we hope we can resolve this situation soon.”

Commenting on the engineering works, Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, said: “This work on Sunday 24 July is vital to upgrade the railway to support new, longer trains for West Anglia passengers and to support the next stage of opening of the Elizabeth line programme which will provide better connections across London.”

Information about the strikes, including how to get a refund on all tickets including season tickets is available on the Greater Anglia website.