West Midlands Trains/LNWR Strikes 31 July and 1 August- SETTLED

Thank you for the notification. We plan to be coming from Chester to London on 1 August … would any of the strike impacts potentially affect us? We haven’t yet purchased or reserved any train tickets. This hasn’t yet been researched much, either, but should we figure all that out right away?
Thank you again, very much, Stuart!

It shouldn't do, as you are on Avanti who are unaffected.

However the semi fast Crewe to Euston LNWR hourly service will be cancelled.

So all those passengers will have to travel on Avanti, putting pressure on seats.

I was on the 10 car LNWR semi fasts today, and they are well used, partly because they are as cheap as chips.

I usually do Crewe to Euston for under £10 on the semi fasts, with a railcard, booked a few weeks ahead.

I would be getting in quick to get a well priced ticket. On the direct trains at 32 past the hour, the best priced trains are the 1032 onwards.
On the 58 past the hour, change at Crewe, the best prices by some margin currently are split tickets - Chester to Crewe Advance, and Crewe to Euston Advance.

The most you can pay is £79.80 Off Peak Single but the 1132 direct is £50 as of tonight, and some of the 58 past on split tickets are around £50 as well.

All fares quoted are before railcard discounts.

This was very helpful. Got Two Together tickets for $96 total, direct Chester to London Euston. Doing the two separate leg bookings (Chester to Crewe, then Crewe to Euston) would’ve saved about $20, but would’ve taken an hour and a half longer, leaving Chester a half hour earlier and waiting 53 minutes at Crewe with a platform transfer. Not sure why. Truly different trains?At any rate, getting to London an hour sooner now, and the railcard makes quite a difference.

Thank you again, Stuart, for staying on top of the 27 different train companies and all the goings-on!

thanks for the update Stuart

Will all service be as usual? We are going I hope from Moreton In Marsh to Oxford to Woodstock and Blenheim Palace.
Can we expect normal service tomorrow Aug 1?
Thanks!

Yes, everything as normal. This journey is on GWR, so wasn't affected by the above strike action.

However trains between M-i-M and Oxford may be busier than normal in both directions due to The Wilderness Festival near Charlbury. Hopefully most people came up tonight, camped on site and will go home on Monday when extra trains are running, but you never know.

Stuart, thank you again for the initial notice, and then the reassuring update. We’ve made it to Chester, just finished an early tapas dinner, and are leaving tomorrow morning. Train station is 1.1 miles from our B&B (or so says the map app on my phone), and my phone also got a pop-up notice from Uber about a 15% discount on a ride to or from a train station, within 3 hours of a train ride. The catch: the train has to have been booked through the Uber app.

Apparently Uber is now in the train-ticket-selling business. We didn’t use them, so we wouldn’t get a discount. The thing is, we might not have been riding the 1.1 miles to the station on Uber anyway. After we turned in our hired car on the western edge of town this afternoon, I tried to summon an Uber ride to reach our B&B. The app found us a ride, then cancelled it, multiple times. I phoned an actual taxi, and he arrived within a few minutes. Discounts don’t matter if the ride never comes.

Thanks Stuart!