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strike - busses?

With the planned train strike, does this affect getting around London by bus? Thx.

Posted by
32519 posts

no and yes.

No they won't be on strike.

Yes, everybody not on a train will be on the road, either on a bus or in a car. Traffic will be very slow and buses very full.

And remember that the Tube is on strike too for the first day of the train strikes - the 21st.

Posted by
6 posts

Thank you. So if I'm not in a hurry, can I still get "there and back again?" (Thinking Windsor one day, Oxford another...)
To clarify: i have a train reservation on the 24th for Windsor, and a bus reservation on the 25th for Oxford. Will those be honored? Do I have to leave at 6 am? (Of course this assumes I can get to London at all on Eurostar the 23rd...)

Posted by
1936 posts

Having been in London during a tube strike, the buses will be crowded. I would try to ride them outside of rush hours.

Posted by
501 posts

OK, there’s a difference between buses to get you around London (that is, within London itself, which is what I thought your question referred to) and buses to Oxford or Windsor. The latter might be referred to as coaches in the UK. It’s a fine distinction, but buses are generally for shorter journeys within a city with lots of stops and coaches are for longer journeys between towns.

Anyway: expect buses/coaches from London to nearby cities to be much busier on train strike days, because it will be the main back-up choice for travellers. Road traffic generally may also be extremely busy, so it all might take longer.

Within London itself, the red buses will be super-busy on tube strike day.

None of the bus or coach companies is involved in the strike action.

Posted by
5311 posts

You would be going against the main commuting flow on the Oxford "Tube" coaches but it would be advisable to travel outside peak times and pre-book a seat both ways. Also might be beneficial to get on at the endpoints and not one of the intermediate stops.

Posted by
32519 posts

I've never seen anybody reserve a train to Windsor. I didn't know it was possible.

Have bought an open ticket, is that what you mean? In advance to save the hassle, but not an "Advance" ticket?

No way to know exactly how trains will run in the days between the strike days but I would expect - as you will have seen in the strike thread - something far different than normal.

Is your reservation for the Waterloo - Windsor & Eton Riverside service or for the Paddington - Stroud - Windsor & Eton Central service?

Windsor is at the end of a branch line for each of those. Branch lines are the least likely to have anything like normal.

Posted by
6 posts

The Windsor train is from paddington to Windsor eton via slough. And it's for a specific time (out and return tho it says the return is flexible as long as it's off-peak). And rather than an e-ticket I'm supposed to pick it up from the train station.

Posted by
6 posts

The bus ticket to-from Oxford (Oxford tube) doesn't have set times or seat assignments. I just have a printed page and their schedule for Saturdays in June.

Posted by
6 posts

Golden Girl, sorry, I wasn't clear... Busses and tube within London itself, AND those two excursion days out of town.