Published on: Wednesday, 31 August 2022
Last updated: Wednesday, 31 August 2022
A Greater Anglia train. Credit: Greater Anglia
Railway passengers, including football fans and people going to see Coldplay at Wembley Stadium are being advised to avoid travelling on Greater Anglia and Stansted Express trains on Saturday 13 August due to a train drivers’ strike.
The strike by train drivers’ union ASLEF will leave Greater Anglia - which also runs the Stansted Express service - able to run only ten per cent of its usual services.
There will be no trains between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street or on any Greater Anglia regional and branch lines including all trains to the seaside, except for Southend.
A heavily reduced service will run between London Liverpool Street and Norwich, Colchester and Southend Victoria.
There will be no direct Stansted Express trains due to engineering works along the route, with a very limited rail replacement bus service between Waltham Cross and Harlow Town to connect with trains which are only operating between 7am and 7pm. Airport travellers are advised to make alternative travel arrangements.
Five football teams from East Anglia have fixtures on Saturday 13 August – Norwich City, Cambridge United, Ipswich Town, Peterborough United and Colchester United, with Arsenal also playing at home that day.
In addition, Coldplay has a concert at Wembley Arena.
Greater Anglia managing director Jamie Burles said: “We know that many people from our region would have been planning to travel by train either to the football or to see Coldplay or for the many other events around our region on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, our advice is avoid travelling on our trains because with our train drivers on strike we can’t run 90 per cent of our services.
“Work is continuing at an industry level to try to resolve the dispute with ASLEF, the RMT and TSSA, so we can resume our usual punctual and reliable service.
“We are very sorry for the inconvenience these strikes are causing our customers.”
Timetables and details of first and last train times will be available on the Greater Anglia website, app and social media as soon as they are finalised.
There will be no rail replacement bus service operating instead of any of the trains which are not running because of the strikes.
Passengers can use tickets bought for a strike day either the day before or the two days after the strike day, or they can change their ticket to a different date or get a refund.
Services on Sunday 14 August will start later than usual due to disruption caused by the 24-hour strike.
There will be no direct Stansted Express services on Sunday, but a limited alternative rail service will be available between London and Stansted Airport using Great Northern and Thameslink trains between Kings Cross and Cambridge and Greater Anglia and Cross Country trains between Cambridge and Stansted Airport.
Other train companies affected by the ASLEF strike on Saturday 13 August are Avanti West Coast, Cross Country, GWR, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground and Southeastern.
Train operators in the region not affected by strike action on Saturday 13 August are Elizabeth line, c2c, EMR and Great Northern so their services may be a helpful alternative for some journeys.
Local bus operators may also be an option for some shorter distance journeys.
The RMT has announced more national rail strikes for Thursday 18 and Saturday 20 August. London Underground is also affected by RMT strike action on Friday 19 August.
Greater Anglia members of rail union, TSSA are taking industrial action short of a strike from 18-20 August.
Service information for Saturday 13 August
There will be no services on the following routes on Saturday 13 August:
- Between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge North
- Between Norwich and Cambridge/Stansted Airport, Sheringham, Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth
- Between Ipswich and Cambridge, Peterborough, Felixstowe and Lowestoft
- Between Marks Tey and Sudbury
- 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.
The following services will be running:
- Intercity service between Norwich and London Liverpool Street will be one train an hour, with first and last trains from Norwich at 08.00 and 19.00, and from Liverpool Street at 10.30 and 21.30
- Stopping service between Colchester and London Liverpool Street will be one train an hour, with first and last trains from Colchester at 08.13 and 20.13, and from Liverpool Street at 10.00 and 22.00
- Between Southend Victoria and London Liverpool Street will be one train an hour, with first and last trains from Southend Victoria at 08.13 and 22.00, and from Liverpool Street at 09.47 and 23.45
- The Stansted Express service between London and Stansted Airport is affected by engineering works. There will be one service an hour, including a limited rail replacement bus service between Waltham Cross and Harlow Town, between 07.00 to 19.00. Airport customers are advised to make alternative travel arrangements. Buses are expected to be busy with long queues throughout the day.