Warnings Of Strike Disruption On Greater Anglia

Timetables are now becoming available for the very limited Greater Anglia rail services which are due to run should a national rail strike go ahead next week.

The RMT union is holding three 24-hour strikes on Tuesday 21, Thursday 23 and Saturday 25 June, with members of the train drivers union ASLEF also striking on Thursday 23 June – affecting all Greater Anglia services.

The industrial action includes Network Rail signallers who are members of the RMT union.

In addition, ASLEF has now called another 24-hour strike among Greater Anglia train drivers for Saturday 2 July.

Greater Anglia is advising people to only travel if absolutely necessary on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday next week, should the strikes go ahead.

Timetables are now available on the Greater Anglia website for the limited service running on Tuesday 21 and Thursday 23 June. The timetable for Saturday 25 June will be available from Tuesday.

Passengers should expect severe disruption, plan their journeys ahead and find alternative ways of travelling if they can.

All regional and branch line services will be cancelled if the strike goes ahead and there will be only a heavily reduced service running on some lines into London Liverpool Street. No services are due to be replaced by rail replacement buses as a result of the strike action.

Services running will only operate from 7.30am, with the last trains finishing their journeys by 6.30pm.

People are also advised to check the Greater Anglia website for changes to train times on Monday 20, Wednesday 22, Friday 24 and Sunday 26 June as some services will be altered as a knock-on effect of strike action.

Anyone who has pre-booked tickets to travel on strike days can change them, use them to travel on the day before or up to two days after their original travel date, or apply for a refund by going back to their original retailer.

Passenger assistance will be available at all stations which are staffed. Greater Anglia will provide alternative transport for people needing passenger assistance from stations which are unstaffed but still served by trains.

There will be no alternative transport from stations where no trains are running on strike days. Travellers needing passenger assistance are strongly advised to contact Greater Anglia’s passenger assist service if travel is absolutely necessary on strike days.

There will be no services running on the following routes on Tuesday 21, Thursday 23 and Saturday 25 June:

- Between Norwich and Cambridge/Stansted Airport, Sheringham, Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth
- Between Ipswich and Cambridge, Peterborough, Felixstowe and Lowestoft
- Between Marks Tey and Sudbury

- Cambridge to London Liverpool Street – one train an hour with some possible further alterations on Thursday 23 June, when train drivers are also on strike, with the first trains from Cambridge to London Liverpool Street at 08.20 and 16.20 and from Cambridge North to London Liverpool Street at 09.13 and 16.13. First and last trains from Liverpool Street to Cambridge/Cambridge North at 08.25 and 16.25/15.25.

All other branch lines: Hertford East to Broxbourne, Braintree to Witham, Southminster to Wickford, Harwich Town to Manningtree, Clacton/Walton-on-the-Naze to Colchester, Colchester Town to Colchester, Meridian Water to Stratford.
A very limited and much reduced service - with fewer trains running and so fewer seats available - will run starting at 7.30am and finishing at 6.30pm on the following routes:

- Norwich to London Liverpool Street intercity service – one train an hour, with first and last trains from Norwich to Liverpool Street at 08.00 and - 16.00, and first and last trains from Liverpool Street to Norwich at 08.30 and 16.30.

- Colchester to London Liverpool Street stopping service – one stopping train an hour plus one intercity service an hour, with the first and last stopping services from Colchester to London Liverpool Street at 07.30 and 16.25 and from London Liverpool Street to Colchester at 08.00 and 17.00.

- Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street – two trains an hour with first and last trains from Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street at 07.30 and 17.13, and from London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria at 07.47 and 17.30.

- Stansted Express Stansted Airport to London Liverpool Street – two trains an hour (reducing to one train an hour on Thursday 23 June, when train drivers are also on strike), with first and last trains from Stansted Airport to London Liverpool Street at 07.42 and 17.12 and from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport at 08.10 and 17.40

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “Please only travel if it’s absolutely necessary on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday when strikes are due to take place.

“If you do travel, you should expect severe disruption, so plan ahead and make alternative arrangements to travel if you can.

“Please also check travel times for any journeys planned for the days before and after any strike action.

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to customers by this industrial action.

“Work is continuing to try to resolve the dispute as soon as possible.”

More information about how industrial action will affect rail journeys and how to apply for ticket changes or refunds are available on the Greater Anglia website.

The company will make an announcement about which services will run on Saturday 2 July as soon as plans for that day are complete and those details are available.