Greater Anglia to run full Christmas timetable during planned RMT strike on 27 December

Published on: Wednesday, 20 December 2017
Last updated: Monday, 19 December 2022

Published 20/12/2017

Greater Anglia will be running a full service on all four forthcoming RMT strike days.

Richard Dean, Greater Anglia Trains Service Delivery Director, said: “We are very disappointed that the RMT has announced three more strike days, in January, in addition to the strike on Wednesday 27 December, as we have been holding constructive talks with union officials.

“We will be running our full Christmas service as planned if the RMT strike goes ahead next Wednesday, and intend to run a full service on January 8, 10 and 12.”

A Christmas timetable starts on Saturday 23 December and runs through until Monday 1 January.

Network Rail is carrying out engineering works between Shenfield and London Liverpool Street for the whole ten days.

Trains on the Great Eastern mainline will run as far as Ingatestone and from Southend as far as Billericay. Passengers are then able to continue their journeys by rail replacement bus to Newbury Park, and then on the Central Line to London Liverpool Street.

There is also a revised service on the West Anglia line, including the Stansted Express, as a result of engineering works.

Across the rest of the network, there is a revised Christmas and Bank Holiday train service.

Greater Anglia’s contingency conductors are able to cover all of the services normally staffed by conductors taking part in the RMT strike.

Richard Dean, Greater Anglia Train Service Delivery Director, said: “We’re determined our customers next week will still be able to make trips to Christmas sales, pantomimes, celebrations with family and friends and work by train on the day of the RMT strike action.”

He added: “We are keeping our conductors on our trains. In fact we will be recruiting more when we get our new trains. We have guaranteed their jobs right until the end of the franchise, in October 2025.”

Customers are advised to check before they travel on the Greater Anglia website, app or Twitter as some journey times are longer due to engineering works and train times are altered due to Bank Holiday timetables.

Conductors are on 40 per cent of Greater Anglia services. The remaining services, mainly commuter trains to London Liverpool Street from Essex, Cambridge, Hertfordshire and Suffolk, do not have conductors.