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Monday 12 Dec 2022

Rail passengers warned of major disruption during December due to further industrial action

Region & Route:

Wales & Western

| Wales & Western: Western

Network Rail is urging passengers to only travel by train if absolutely necessary and plan ahead due to 48-hour strikes on 13 & 14, and 16 & 17 December.

• 48-hour strike action on Tuesday 13 & Wednesday 14, and Friday 16 & Saturday 17 December by RMT, TSSA and Unite unions will result in severe disruption on Network Rail’s Western route, starting tomorrow (Tuesday 13 December)
• On strike days an extremely limited service – roughly only 20%of services – will operate between 07.30 and 18.30; first trains will start later, and the last trains will leave much earlier
• Disruption should also be expected in the morning of the day after each strike – Thursday 15 and Sunday 18 December – as the railway recovers from the previous day’s strikes.

During this latest industrial action, across Network Rail’s Western route – which covers the railway and towns and communities between Penzance and London Paddington – passengers should expect an extremely limited service with trains starting later and finishing earlier. As a result, a greatly reduced revised timetable will operate across several train operators, including GWR. 

On strike days, there will be no train services south west of Plymouth, including the whole of Cornwall and all branch lines in Devon. There will also be no train services to Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa.

There will be no CrossCountry services in operation and there will be a reduced service on westbound Elizabeth Line services between London Paddington and Reading and on Heathrow Express services between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport, both ending at 18:30.

Passengers should also expect disruption from 18 December until 2 January, with wide variations on service provision, due to an overtime ban across 14 train operating companies imposed by the RMT.

Christmas Eve (24 December) will also see services stop significantly earlier than usual because of further strikes announced by the RMT.

Passengers are encouraged to check with their train operators for the latest information on services, ticket acceptance and how to claim a refund, as well as visiting the National Rail Enquiries website.

David Davidson, Network Rail’s interim Western route director, said: “It is deeply frustrating to have to once again warn passengers of disruption as a result of further industrial action. Make no mistake, this highly disruptive strike action by the RMT over the festive period will cause misery to passengers right across the country.

“I would like to apologise to passengers and urge them to seek alternative ways to travel than by train and for those passengers who must travel by train to expect severe disruption, plan ahead and check the time of your last train home.

“Please continue to check with your train operator on the services they are running or visit the National Rail Enquiries website for more information.”