Passengers advised to avoid travelling by Greater Anglia trains during rail strikes planned for October 1, 5 and 8
Greater Anglia is advising rail passengers, including football fans and people travelling to work and school or college, to avoid travelling by train on Saturday, October 1, Wednesday, October 5, and Saturday, October 8, as national rail strikes are set to cause widespread disruption.
People travelling to the London Marathon this Sunday (October 2) will also be affected, as the 24-hour strikes have a knock-on effect the following day, with first trains affected and no services before 7/7.30am.
Rail unions ASLEF and RMT have rescheduled strikes postponed due to the death of Her Majesty the Queen to next month. As a result, Greater Anglia services will be severely disrupted, with the company only able to run a fraction of its services – and no services at all between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street or on regional or branch lines.
A heavily reduced service will run between London Liverpool Street and Norwich, Colchester, Southend Victoria, and on the Stansted Express service between Stansted Airport and London Liverpool Street.
This Saturday (October 1), services will only operate from 7.30am and with all last trains setting off before the end of the working day and final whistle at football matches, in most cases in order to be at their final destination by 6.30pm.
Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “We are very sorry that once again our customers will be disrupted by strikes, which this time will affect football fans and some people from our region competing in the London Marathon, as well as school or college students, commuters and business travellers.
“We’re only able to run a fraction of our usual services, so our advice again is to avoid using our trains on strike days. The rail industry is working hard to resolve these disputes and talks will continue with ASLEF and RMT in an effort to avert the strike.”
[Read more: Rail passengers warned not to travel on strike dates]
Anyone who has pre-booked tickets to travel on October 1, 5 or 8 can change them, use them to travel on either the day before or up to two days later, or apply for a refund by going back to their original retailer.
RMT members will also strike on Saturday, October 8, and that will affect Stansted Express trains. The following day, the service will not start until 7am.
Further information is available from greateranglia.co.uk/strikes which will be updated as details are finalised.