Greater Anglia service alterations due to industrial action until Tuesday 6 February, including a full strike day on Friday 2 February

A Greater Anglia train. Credit: Greater Anglia

Due to industrial action by members of the ASLEF union, Greater Anglia services will be affected by strike action tomorrow, Friday 2 February, and action short of a strike until Tuesday 6 February.

During the action short of a strike, today and from Saturday 3 February to Tuesday 6 February inclusive, a normal timetable will be in place, with most services operating on all Greater Anglia routes, but with some planned cancellations.

However, tomorrow, Friday 2 February, a full strike by ASLEF members will take place. A very limited train service will operate only on five core routes and, with the exception of the Stansted Express service, for a limited period. Those routes are:

Norwich – London Liverpool Street: hourly

Stansted Airport – London Liverpool Street: hourly

Colchester – London Liverpool Street: hourly

Southend Victoria – London Liverpool Street: hourly

Cambridge – London Liverpool Street: approx. every 2 hours

Apart from the Stansted Express, these services will start much later and will finish earlier than normal. We expect these services to be very busy and passengers are advised to plan ahead or consider travelling on alternative dates.

There will be no services at all on any other Greater Anglia routes on Friday 2 February.

Passengers are advised that Great Northern and Thameslink will be running services between Cambridge and London Kings Cross on 2 February (as they will be affected by action short of a strike, not a full strike, on that day).

Journey planners will be updated with exact train times three days before each strike date.

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia’s managing director, said:

“Unfortunately on the 2 February, no services will run at all on most Greater Anglia routes, with just an hourly service during normal operating hours on the Stansted Airport to London route and an hourly service for limited hours on the Norwich to London, Colchester to London and Southend Victoria to London routes, plus a few services between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street.

“On the days affected by action short of a strike, the vast majority of services will be running as normal, but there will be some alterations and cancellations across our network.

“Please note that an extensive engineering works programme will also take place on Saturday 3 February and Sunday 4 February. This work is extremely important to help maintain the safe and reliable running of the railway and make it fit for the future. A rail replacement service will run while the work takes place.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by these service alterations and advise customers to plan ahead and check before they travel.”

Engineering Work on Saturday 3 February and Sunday 4 February

Engineering work will take place across the Greater Anglia network on both Saturday 3 February and Sunday 4 February and a rail replacement bus service will be in operation. Further details:

London Liverpool Street to Cambridge

In connection with construction work for the new Cambridge South station, the line will be closed between Audley End and Cambridge all day on Saturday and Sunday.

Trains from London Liverpool Street to Cambridge will start/terminate at Audley End, connecting into rail replacement bus services to/from Cambridge North. A frequent train service will operate between Cambridge North and Cambridge.

The Stansted Airport to Norwich service will only run between Cambridge and Norwich.

London Liverpool Street to Shenfield, Southend Victoria and Southminster

In connection with track renewal works, all lines will be closed between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield, Southend Victoria and Southminster all day on Saturday and Sunday.

Rail replacement buses will operate between Southend Victoria and Newbury Park underground station, calling at all stations between Southend Victoria and Shenfield. From Newbury Park passengers are to use TfL Central Line underground services forward to Stratford and London Liverpool Street.

Rail replacement buses will also operate between Wickford and Southminster.

London Liverpool Street to Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and branches

In connection with track renewal works, all lines will be closed between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield all day on Sunday.

Trains from Norwich, Ipswich, Clacton and Colchester will terminate at Shenfield.

Connecting rail replacement bus services will operate from Ingatestone to Newbury Park underground station. From Newbury Park passengers are to use TfL Central Line underground services forward to Stratford and London Liverpool Street.

Shuttle train services will operate between Witham and Braintree, Marks Tey and Sudbury, Thorpe-le-Soken and Walton-on-the-Naze, and between Manningtree and Harwich Town.

London Liverpool Street to Cheshunt (from 23:15 Sunday 4 February only)

In connection with track maintenance work taking place between Tottenham Hale and Cheshunt from 23:15 until close of service on Sunday, West Anglia and Stansted Express services will be diverted between London Liverpool Street and Cheshunt, serving Seven Sisters instead of Tottenham Hale. Journey times will be extended several minutes as a result.

We also strongly advise that passengers check the journey planner before they travel as there may be last-minute changes to the service.

Please note that action short of a strike is affecting most UK train operators until 6 February. In addition, most operators face full strike action on one of those days (see summary of the relevant dates below).

Background

On Monday 15 January, strike action was announced by the ASLEF Union for the UK train operators listed below for the following days between 2 and 6 February:

Friday 2 February affecting:

• Greater Anglia (including Stansted Express)
• C2C
• LNER
• Saturday 3 February affecting:
• West Midlands Trains
• East Midlands Railway
• Avanti West Coast

Monday 5 February affecting:

• Great Western
• CrossCountry
• Chiltern

As already outlined, all the above train operators will be affected by an overtime ban until 6 February, which is likely to lead to some planned and short notice alterations and cancellations.

More details are available online at greateranglia.co.uk and on other train operators’ websites.