Christmas train strikes 2022: how will industrial action affect festive travel plans?

Train strikes 2022

Credit: Getty

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Christmas train strikes 2022: how will industrial action affect festive travel plans?

By Katie Rosseinsky

3 years ago

2 min read

Train travel in the run-up to Christmas and over the festive period itself is likely to be disrupted by strike action. Here’s what you need to know. 

More rail strikes have been announced for the Christmas holidays, continuing months of transport disruption across the UK in response to the ongoing dispute over rail workers’ pay, conditions and job cuts.

A new 60-hour strike, announced on 5 December, will see members of the RMT union walk out from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 6am on 27 December, in a move that could disrupt festive travel plans.

Four 48-hour strike periods have also been confirmed for December and early January, making this the longest period of UK industrial action since the late 1980s.

The RMT, which is the UK’s largest rail union, is currently involved in two sets of negotiations, with both Network Rail, the company which manages the infrastructure of Britain’s railways, and the train operating companies in charge of various routes around the UK.

Workers are striking as part of a months-long campaign for pay rises that reflect the current cost of living crisis, which has seen inflation skyrocket, and to stand against potential job cuts.

The Rail Delivery Group offered rail staff a rise of up to 8% over two years and a guarantee against compulsory redundancies before April 2024, but this was quickly turned down by the RMT, with general secretary Mick Lynch describing it as “unacceptable”.

“We have rejected this offer as it does not meet any of our criteria for securing a settlement on long-term job security, a decent pay rise and protecting working conditions,” he said.

“The RDG and Department of Transport, who sets their mandate, both knew this offer would not be acceptable to RMT members,” he added. “If this plan was implemented, it would not only mean the loss of thousands of jobs but the use of unsafe practices such as DOO [driver only operation] and would leave our railways chronically understaffed.”

The union has, however, called off a planned overtime ban from 18 December to 2 January, which would have left the railways understaffed and made it more difficult for train operators to finalise their Christmas timetables.

If you’re travelling over the festive period, here’s what you need to know. 

When are the rail strikes?

Train strikes

Credit: Getty Images

If you’re planning to take the train on the following dates, expect your journey to be impacted by industrial action:

13 December

14 December

16 December

17 December

24 December (from 6pm)

27 December (until 6am)

3 January

4 January

6 January

7 January

During recent strikes, services have been seriously disrupted, with many providers only running a skeleton service – and most not running any trains at all. So if you were planning on cutting it fine and dashing back to your family home on Christmas Eve, it might be worth having a rethink, as services are likely to be even busier than usual before that 6pm cut-off.

It’s worth noting that trains don’t normally run on 25 or 26 December regardless of strike action (a few airport transfer services are normally in operation on Boxing Day, but are unlikely to run this year). Instead, the strikes will impact engineering work on the railway itself. 

Will the London Underground be affected by the strikes?

The planned action is focused on mainline rail rather than the Underground, and Transport for London has not confirmed that its transport workers will be taking part in these strikes, so it seems that the Tube, the Overground and other London-based services should still run over these periods (except for Christmas Day, when they shut down). With mainline services out of action, though, expect these travel options to be even busier than usual.

GTR, who operate the Thameslink services, are involved in strike action, though, so if that is your main route around the capital, you’ll need to consider the alternatives.

Which rail services are impacted by the strikes?

As the RMT is the biggest railway union, the vast majority of UK rail providers are being affected by the walkout. If you’re planning to travel on (deep breath) Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway, LNER, Greater Anglia, East Midlands Railway, Cross Country Trains, West Midlands Railway, South Western, Transpennine Express, Northern, Southeastern, c2c and GTR (who are in charge of services including Thameslink, the Gatwick Express, Southern and Great Northern), you’ll likely be affected.

With timetables for the strike periods yet to be confirmed, most services are currently advising customers to make alternative travel arrangements and to be aware that the disruption might impact services on the days before and after the strike periods (so if you’re planning to travel during the day on 27 December, consider yourself warned that services might be less frequent or slower than normal). 

What can I do if I’ve already bought a ticket?

Most rail providers are yet to announce full details for customers who’ve booked travel tickets over the strike period, but during previous recent industrial action, the majority have extended their ticket window throughout the week to allow customers to travel on days unaffected by strikes.

National Rail’s website currently states: “If you purchased an Advance, Off-Peak or Anytime ticket and choose not to travel at all because your service on either your outward or return journey has been cancelled, delayed or rescheduled than you will be entitled to a refund or change from the original retailer of your ticket.

“In the event of your service being affected by strike action, cross-industry ticket acceptance between different train companies and temporary removal of certain ticket restrictions may be made available.”

Further details of exactly which trains will be running and when will be announced later this month, with National Rail promising that their online journey planner will have details for travel from 12 to 16 December online from 9 December, while schedules for 17 and 18 December strikes will be available from 13 and 14 December respectively. 

Images: Getty

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