The train drivers’ union, Aslef, has announced the latest round of industrial action in its long and bitter dispute with 14 English train operators over pay, jobs and working conditions.
Union members will walk out on a range of days from 2 to 8 December.
Each day (apart from Monday 4 December), a different part of the country is to be targeted to cause maximum disruption.
In addition, a nine-day overtime ban will cause extra cancellations from 1 to 9 December inclusive.
These are the key questions and answers on the rail strikes.
What is planned?
Train drivers belonging to Aslef will walk out on the following days:
- Saturday 2 December: East Midlands Railway and LNER.
- Sunday 3 December: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, Great Northern, Thameslink and West Midlands Trains
- Monday 4 December: no strikes
- Tuesday 5 December: C2C and Greater Anglia
- Wednesday 6 December: Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway
- Thursday 7 December: CrossCountry and GWR
- Friday 8 December: Northern and TransPennine Trains
Neither ScotRail nor Transport for Wales is involved in the dispute.
What will the effect be?
Based on previous experience, these are the likely impacts when drivers walk out. Please check closer to the day of travel to be sure.
- East Midlands Railway: No trains.
- LNER: Regular trains on core routes linking London King’s Cross with Leeds, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh.
- Avanti West Coast: No trains.
- Chiltern: No trains.
- West Midlands Railway: No trains.
- Great Northern: No trains.
- Thameslink: No trains.
- C2C: No trains
- Greater Anglia: Limited service linking London Liverpool Street with Norwich, Ipswich and Colchester; Southend Victoria; and Stansted airport.
- Southeastern: No trains.
- Southern: No trains except a nonstop shuttle service between London Victoria and Gatwick airport, from 6am to 11.30am.
- Gatwick Express: No trains but the Southern airport shuttle will cover the ground.
- South Western Railway: A core service of up to four trains per hour between London Waterloo with Woking, with one train each hour extended to both Guildford and Basingstoke.
- CrossCountry: No trains.
- Great Western Railway (GWR): A core service will run between London Paddington and Oxford, Bath and Bristol, with a link from Bristol to Cardiff. A very limited service on some branch lines. The Night Riviera sleeper service from London to Penzance will not run until Friday 6…
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