Tube strikes in London

Posted by sarahbglennon on 06/22/22 07:59 PM

I will be arriving at Gatwick on Sunday, June 26th. I understand that there is currently a strike effecting the trains. I had planned to use the Tubes to get from the airport to Earl's Court where we are staying as well as to Wimbledon during the week. We will be using the District Line. I also have many other tours scheduled that I planned around the Tube. If anyone has any updated information about the strike, advice for other forms of transportation and how the overall effect is on the city, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, I will be taking the Eurostar to Belgium on July 2nd. Are these trains effected by the strike?

Thank you

Posted by Rocket 🚀🧳

San Francisco area

06/22/22 08:45 PM

1806 posts

FYI the tube doesn’t run from Gatwick into central London. You can take a train. I use the southern trains to get to Victoria station. It’s slightly slower than the Gatwick Express but cheaper. There’s also train service to other rail stations such as Blackfriars and London Bridge.

In case of service disruptions such as a strike there is also bus service run by National Express to Victoria Bus station.

Posted by Carol now retired

Lynnwood, Washington

06/22/22 09:00 PM

8398 posts

Just a practical heads up for you, put the citymapper app on your phone. This works absolutely great to give you transportation options in real time. If you input your destination, it will figure out the public transportation options that are available, where to walk to get catch the options, when the next bus or train is coming, and track your route and let you know when to get off.

I used it for the first time for my trip to London and I absolutely fell in love with this app. We were taking a lot of buses and it worked perfectly. I now use it here in Seattle as well!

Posted by Frank II

Freedonia

06/23/22 12:11 AM

15083 posts

The last day of the announced strikes is scheduled to take place on Saturday, the 25th and not the 26th. No other strike dates have been mentioned and the railway unions are required by law to give two weeks notice for strike dates.

As stated earlier, the tube doesn't run from Gatwick to London. You can take the train to Victoria, and then get the District line to Earls Court. I passed by the Earls Court Station today and it was business as usual. Hotels in the area are filling up and lots of tourists out and about.

There was a tube strike on Tuesday but no other strikes on the Tube have been announced.

Posted by sarahbglennon OP

06/23/22 01:29 PM

16 posts

Thank you everyone for your responses. Now I can relax and enjoy my visit!

Posted by CL

Salem, Oregon, USA

06/23/22 02:15 PM

2356 posts

I second the recommendation to use CityMapper app for transit. It gives multiple options and also includes walking time for an accurate full picture of travel time. I also took the Southern Line train from Victoria station to Gatwick and it was super easy about 35 minutes. I noticed on the national rail page that the national rail trains will be starting later on Sunday June 26, so depending on your arrival time that may impact your transit options.

Here are some links to strike info. Check regularly, as things can change (e.g., Brussels airport wasn't on the list of places striking, but they ended up closing down on June 21 at last minute). Eurostar did announce service disruptions as well, the link is below.

Tube strike info: https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/tube-strike

National rail strike info: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/298131.aspx

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