UPDATEs 4x48 hr rail strikes announced 2 in Dec & 2 in Jan

Do they usually strike on specific days of the week or particularly busy times? We plan to take a train from London to Liverpool on Dec. 30th, any advice on alternative modes of transportation if there’s a strike that day? Rent a car or take a bus I suppose?

Nigel Any further information on the rail strikes? Is there a source for real time information re: strikes? We had planned to take the train from London to York on 12/3. It would be nice to know the status so we could make other arrangements such as a rental car.
Thanks.
Bradley

3 Dec is 15 days from now and I haven't heard any specific dates yet. There must be 14 days notice. If they haven't announced tomorrow there will be no strike on the 3rd.

There is no "real time" method that I know of. You could watch the National Rail website but they tend to run a few days after an announcement. You could watch the ASLEF, RMT and TSSA twitter feeds (if they are still there if/when twitter collapses), or UK news, maybe BBC or ITV feeds or the Metro or Evening Standard papers.

When I know something I say.

Thanks Nigel!

I spoke with the LNER train agent yesterday 11/19/22 and they said to monitor the Industrial Action page (see link below) for next weeks strike and I bet the other to follow in the weeks to come. As I understand it the train will run but on a very limited basis.

https://www.lner.co.uk/travel-information/Industrial-action/

Rail negotiations

I have seen multiple posts about the strikes but haven’t read much about negotiations with the employer.

Are negotiations underway? Stalled?

I land in the UK in 6months - is there any hope that this will be addressed by then?

EDIT - just saw these articles
https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/20/train-cancellations-in-great-britain-hit-highest-level-on-record

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11444815/amp/Rail-strikes-cripple-network-two-weekends-rugby-fans-warned-not-travel.html

Does this impact the tube or buses? We will be in London Jan 1-6 and wondering if this will impact us. Will only be moving about London.

updates in OP.

Sorry, now there are 2x48 hour strikes in December and 2x48 hour strikes in early January

As announced by the RMT today, quoting:

"
RMT Press Office:

Rail union, RMT will put on a series of 48 hour strikes in December and January after industry bosses failed to offer any new deals to reach a settlement.

Over 40,000 members across Network and 14 Train Operating Companies will take strike action on 13, 14, 16 and 17 December and on January 3,4,6 and 7.

There will also be an overtime ban across the railways from 18 December until 2 January, meaning RMT be taking industrial action for 4 weeks.

Despite every effort made by our negotiators, it is clear that that the government is directly interfering with our attempts to reach a settlement.

The union suspended previous strike action in good faith to allow for intensive negotiations to resolve the dispute.

Yet, Network Rail have failed to make an improved offer on jobs, pay and conditions for our members during the last two weeks of talks.

At the same time Rail Delivery Group, representing the train operating companies, have also broken a promise to make a meaningful offer on pay and conditions and even cancelled negotiations that were due to take place yesterday.

We also have evidence from all 14 of the train companies denying that Rail Delivery Group has the authority to conduct negotiations on their behalf, even as the RDG urged us to come back to the table.
"

Thanks for always keeping us posted, Nigel. The strikes make me sad because they make it traveling by train unreliable, this pushing people to rent cars and therefore contributing more pollution to the atmosphere.

I say this in reference to myself: in October, I had a trip perfectly planned by rail, but the announcement in advance of my trip meant I had to abandon my already-purchased train tickets and rent a car. And since I was solo, the impact of that car was even worse.

Sigh.

Heard about the Christmas rail strike from my friend who was going to see her parents by train. She'll probably end up driving now. I think these strikes harm the unions more then they help quite frankly.

It might bear noting that because there is only one day between each two day strike, that the ‘middle’ day will be pretty much a write off as well with disrupted services (trains not in the right place, etc). Same will probably apply to the day after the second of each of the two day strikes.

I think these strikes harm the unions more then they help quite frankly.

I believe that currently there’s a decent amount of public goodwill towards the striking railway workers, but if the strikes continue and there’s no sign of a settlement, there will come a time when that goodwill will start to erode. Plus, as regards redundancies, I similarly think there will come a point when these become self fulfilling prophesies. I do hope I’m wrong about that, and I hope that sense will prevail and a settlement will be reached as soon as possible, although that doesn’t now look likely until next year at the earliest.

Ian

and the overtime ban won't help either. There is a chance that Sunday working would be perceived as under the ban as Sunday has never been part of the working week and volunteers have always signed up to work their Sundays.

Thank you Nigel for the heads up and thank you Kevin for the website for Lner. We are traveling Friday December 16 Edinburgh to Kings Cross. Am I right to assume:
1) the official strike notice has to be posted 14 days prior. If not posted then I’m good to go.
2) not all trains are cancelled that day so I may be able to get seats on another train even
If Dec 16 becomes an official strike day.

Am I right to assume:
1) the official strike notice has to be posted 14 days prior. If not posted then I’m good to go.
2) not all trains are cancelled that day so I may be able to get seats on another train even
If Dec 16 becomes an official strike day.

q1 - yes.

q2- depends on who exactly is striking and which company. These are RMT so that may be true, but it is LNER so unlikely. The usual advice - check with the strike page on your train company webpage - LNER.

q2 at the end of the question - but December 16th is one of the days listed in the 4x48 hour strikes - look at the bottom of the OP. The second one listed is the 16th and 17th of December.

Thank you. I don’t mean to be dense so bare with me this could be a crystal ball question:
Given December 16 is a strike day for Lner should I make alternate arrangements now or should I wait for instructions from the website?

I've been giving the same advice all year. Regularly check the website of the train company, and - as suggested by all the train companies - avoid all but absolutely essential travel on strike days.

Early planning for strikes is very necessary.

A couple of questions we would appreciate answers for since our last full day in London is 12/13 and we go to LHR on 12/14.

1. Is walking pretty much our only option for getting to the historic center from the Bayswater area? Traffic seems like it would be a nightmare on strike days. Will buses be running and will they be jam packed and difficult to get on?

2. On 12/14 We have National Express tickets quite early for our flight home. Uber? Taxi? Will the roads be cram packed going to the airport too.

Thank you to anyone who helps!

Is walking pretty much our only option for getting to the historic center from the Bayswater area? Traffic seems like it would be a nightmare on strike days. Will buses be running and will they be jam packed and difficult to get on?

On 12/14 We have National Express tickets quite early for our flight home. Uber? Taxi? Will the roads be cram packed going to the airport too.

q1 no. buses and tube not on strike (they are not trains in the meaning) q1b not necessarily, it is December. q1c. yes, not necessarily.

q2. If you have coach tickets why would you need uber (yukk) or taxi? Why would the roads be cram packed going to the airport?

Time to relax and breathe. It will be ok. Just plan ahead and leave time.

Thank you Nigel. Appreciate your answers. So easy to get confused and worried. Relax...great advice!

Apologies for piling on to your knowledge, Nigel, but we had scheduled a Eurostar trip from London to Paris on December 17th, returning on the 19th. This was just for leisure, but the hotel, activities, restaurants, etc. have been booked for months. From your perspective, is the best plan of action to not plan on the Paris leg and just stay in London? Your knowledge is vast, so any thoughts you have on this would be appreciated!

As of now, Eurostar plans to operate on your days of travel. However, it is best to keep an eye on it as they may make changes to their timetable.

https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/service-information/eurostar-travel-updates

Thanks so much, Frank - I appreciate your reply. I will keep a close eye.