Between Friday 1 and Sunday 10 December there are periods of strike action, coupled with a nationwide ban on overtime by members of the ASLEF union. It also coincides with several engineering closures on parts of the GTR network across both weekends.
This means train services will be affected every day during this period. Services will run different timetables each day, and also on different parts of the network, with a much earlier finish to services on both Saturday 2 and Saturday 9 December. It is therefore very important that customers check every journey, every day at www.nationalrail.co.uk.
As of 29/11/2023 information is now available for journeys between Friday 1 to Friday 8 December.
Journey planners are expected to be updated on Friday 1 December for journeys on Saturday 9 December.
An update on Sunday 3 December
An important change to note since the previous update is that on Sunday 3 December there will be the normal Sunday timetable running on Southern and Gatwick Express, with amendments to allow various pieces of planned engineering work to take place. However, there remains a possibility of on the day cancellations and so customers should continue to check for any short notice alterations before travelling.
Thameslink and Great Northern services remain as per the previous message, with no service on any route that day because of the strike action taking place.
Day-by-day overview
The table below provides an overview of the service on Great Northern, Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express each day:
The industrial action pages on websites – such as this on the Thameslink website –provide more details on the service plans for each day. This also includes frequently asked questions such as around travelling on alternative dates or refunds.
Please note that the ASLEF strike action itself is rolling across the period with different operators affected on different days. This is important to bear in mind if customers are making a journey that involves using other operators’ services.
Customers currently planning on travelling – particularly on the weekends or next Wednesday 6 December - may need to change or reschedule their plans.