Train strikes - live: Grant Shapps warns against walkout ahead of planned industrial action

Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern expected to be ‘severely disrupted’

GTR, the southeast England train operator which carries more passengers than any other in the UK, has announced its strike plan for next week. It warns travellers of severe disruption.

Much of the Southern network from London Victoria and London Bridge to south London, Surrey and Sussex will be closed on the strike days.

Services will run on the Brighton Mainline to London Bridge and London Victoria, with additional trains from Tattenham Corner, Epsom Downs, Sutton and West Croydon, via Crystal Palace.

An amended Sunday service will operate after each strike day.

The Thameslink line, which normally connects the south coast with Cambridge, Peterborough and Bedford, will be split in two – with no service between London St Pancras and London Bridge.

On Great Northern, much of the network will be closed on the strike days, with no services north of Ely to King’s Lynn.

The Gatwick Express will not run on strike days, and on the days immediately after each strikes (so 22, 24 and 26 June), there will be late starts and early finishes.

Blackfriars station in London

(Simon Calder)

Simon Calder16 June 2022 15:49

Which tube lines are affected by the strikes next week?

Disruption to the London Underground network is expected over several days next week.

Transport for London (TfL) “strongly encouraged” people not to travel on London Underground on Tuesday 21 June because of a 24-hour walkout by RMT and Unite members.

TfL said it expects severe disruption or no service on all Tube lines that day, with no services before 8am the following day.

Meanwhile, there will also be a reduced service on London Overground and the new Elizabeth line on the three days of the RMT’s rail strikes: 21, 23 and 25 June.

Read the full story:

Lucy Thackray16 June 2022 15:31

Which trains will be cancelled during the strikes?

The general secretary of the RMT union, Mick Lynch, has vowed “a sustained campaign of industrial action which will shut down the railway system”.

His members working for Network Rail and 13 train operators are to strike on 21, 23 and 25 June, with effects on the intervening days and the following day, 26 June.

But there are vast areas of England, Wales and Scotland that will see no passenger trains.

Here are all the services cancelled on strike days:

Simon Calder16 June 2022 15:01

‘Passengers will be compensated for disruption’ says Shapps

The transport secretary Grant Shapps has said that rail users will be able to claim compensation if no trains are available to them next week.

“Passengers will be compensated for the disruption. In addition to existing refund agreements that are already in place, we will ensure season ticket holders will be able to claim full compensation on strike days,” said Mr Shapps, addressing press at a rail depot in Hornsey, north London, this morning.

He also raised the possibility of drafting in agency workers to fill the positions of rail employees on strike.

“That will be very much quicker,” said Mr Shapps. “If this strike drags on… then transferable skills, sometimes called agency working, would be something which would become available in this particular dispute.”

Lucy Thackray16 June 2022 14:37

Remote Scottish hospitality location suffers ‘mass cancellations’

One of the most remote hospitality locations in Scotland has taken to social media to announce “lots of rooms available” as a result of the forthcoming national rail strike.

The Moor of Rannoch Restaurant & Rooms, on the West Highland line to Fort William, has tweeted:

“MASS CANCELLATIONS = Lots of rooms available !!!

“Due to RMT Industrial action the railways across the UK will effectively grind to a halt between 21st & 26th June.

“70% of our guests usually arrive/depart by train, unfortunately we have lost almost all of our bookings that week.”

Rooms are available on 20 June and 23-26 June.

Simon Calder16 June 2022 13:58

London Underground faces ‘severe disruption’ during Tuesday strike

For the first day of the national rail strike, Tuesday 21 June, members of the RMT union working for the London Underground will also stop work.

Transport for London (TfL) says: “On Tuesday 21 June, strike action will severely disrupt most of TfL's and national rail's services. We are advising customers not to travel during this action.

“Any Tube services that do operate are unlikely to run after 19:00, so anyone who needs to travel should complete their journey by 18:00.

“Services which are running, including buses and DLR, are likely to be extremely busy with queues to board. Customers using DLR services from stations also served by the Tube are advised to check before they travel due to possible station closures.”

TfL says: “Disruption on all Tube lines will continue through the morning of Wednesday 22 June.

“No London Underground services are expected to run before 08:00. We encourage customers to avoid making journeys until mid-morning.”

Simon Calder16 June 2022 13:37

Which trains will be running during the rail strikes?

During the planned nationwide rail strikes for three dates in late June, only 22 per cent of passenger train services will run – most of them on key links to and from London.

A senior rail source said the plan was to run “as decent a rail service as we can”.

Across Great Britain, 4,500 of the usual 20,000 daily passenger trains are expected to run.

Here are the key links that are still expected to run:

Simon Calder 16 June 2022 12:16

Rail strikes ‘an incredible act of self-harm’ says Shapps

Next week’s rail strikes are “an incredible act of self-harm by the [RMT] union leadership,” the transport secretary has said.

Grant Shapps was speaking at a train depot in north London, where he described the forthcoming industrial action as “a bid to derail reforms that are critical to the network’s future, and designed to inflict damage at the worst possible time”.

He said: “Make no mistake, unlike the past 25 years, when rising passenger demand year after year was taken for granted by the industry, today the railway is in a fight.

“It’s not only competing against other forms of public and private transport. It’s in a battle with Zoom, Teams and remote working.

“In case the unions haven’t noticed, the world has changed.”

He issued an appeal to rail workers, saying he believes they are “less militant” than their union leaders.

“Don’t risk striking yourselves out of a job,” he said.

Simon Calder16 June 2022 11:46

What has Network Rail said about the strikes?

Network Rail has told train users to only travel if necessary over the three strike days next week, as well as suggesting that disruption could spill over into the non-strike days around them.

“Make no mistake, the level of service we will be able to offer will be significantly compromised and passengers need to take that into account and to plan ahead and only travel if it’s really necessary to do so,” said Network Rail boss Andrew Haines.

“Only around half of Britain’s rail network will be open on strike days with a very limited service running on lines that are open from around 07.30 until 18.30,” reads a statement published by Network Rail on Wednesday.

It published two maps showing the train routes that will run on next week’s strike dates, showing a clear swathe of train-free land in Wales.

Several train operators whose employees will join the strike - including Southeastern, TransPennine and Avanti West Coast - have similarly urged passengers to stay at home or use other means of transport if possible.

Part of the map of ‘open lines’ on strike dates issued by Network Rail

(Network Rail)

Lucy Thackray16 June 2022 11:34

Why are rail workers going on strike?

Britain’s biggest rail union, the RMT, has called three days of industrial action next week - affecting both Network Rail and 13 train operators.

The dispute is over pay, redundancies and “a guarantee there will be no detrimental changes to working practices”.

The RMT union says: “Network Rail and the train operating companies have subjected their staff to multi-year pay freezes and plan to cut thousands of jobs which will make the railways unsafe.”

The union’s general secretary, Mick Lynch, has vowed “a sustained campaign of industrial action which will shut down the railway system”.

Read the full story:

Simon Calder16 June 2022 11:10

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