Industrial Action

The latest travel information about upcoming and past rail strikes and overtime bans.

Last updated on 21 September 2023.

Upcoming industrial action

The ASLEF union has announced rail strikes and overtime bans, and the RMT union has announced London Underground strikes.

Rail strikes

  • Saturday 30 September
  • Wednesday 4 October

On these days, the affected train companies are likely to be running few or no services. Additionally, after each strike day, there will likely be disruption to planned services at the start of the day.

You can use your ticket on certain alternative dates, or if you decide not to travel, you can claim a refund.

Rail overtime bans

  • Friday 29 September
  • Monday 2 October - Friday 6 October

These overtime bans have the potential to cause significant disruption, but the majority of services are expected to run as planned. However, we strongly recommend checking for any updates or changes before travelling. Also, please be aware that refunds will only be available if the train is cancelled and you decide not to travel.

Train companies that will be affected

  • Avanti West Coast
  • c2c
  • Chiltern Railways
  • CrossCountry
  • East Midlands Railway
  • Gatwick Express
  • Great Northern
  • Greater Anglia
  • GWR
  • Heathrow Express
  • Island Line
  • LNER
  • London Northwestern Railway
  • Northern
  • South Western Railway
  • Southeastern
  • Southern
  • Stansted Express
  • Thameslink
  • TransPennine Express
  • West Midlands Railway

London Underground strikes

  • Wednesday 4 October
  • Friday 6 October

On these days, there will be severely reduced TfL services.

Ticket validity arrangements

If you hold a ticket dated on a strike day falling within the date ranges below, you can use it as-is on a number of alternative days. You do not need to replace your ticket or re-book.

Date Range Ticket Validity
30th September Valid on 29th September or up to and including Tuesday, 3rd October.
4th October Valid on 3rd October or up to and including Friday, 6th October.

Travel within London:

Customers presenting magstripe National Rail tickets (Singles, Returns or Season Tickets) for journeys across London are permitted to travel on TfL services (bus, Tube, tram or DLR) on reasonable routes only, on the days of the National Rail industrial action only. Please note if your ticket is for a journey that includes crossing London it will not be valid on London Underground services on an alternative date.

Refunds

If you are affected by industrial action and decide not to travel, you can always request a refund using an instant online form.

Background

The industrial action is being caused by ongoing disputes between the two main rail trade unions, the RMT union of transport workers and the ASLEF union of train drivers, and the train companies, Network Rail, and the government. The disputes are over wages, planned changes to working practices, and the threat of redundancies.

So far, the industrial action has consisted of both strikes and overtime bans. Overtime bans are often referred to as “action short of a strike” because they still cause significant disruption without technically striking; they’re effective because many train operators rely on staff doing voluntary overtime to run a full service.

Past 2023 industrial action

All the days industrial action has taken place so far this year.

Saturday 2 September

RMT union strike and ASLEF union overtime ban.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, London Northwestern Railway, LNER, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, Transport for Wales (not on strike, but service changes on some routes), and West Midlands Railway.

Friday 1 September

ASLEF union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, London Northwestern Railway, LNER, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, Transport for Wales (not on strike, but service changes on some routes), and West Midlands Railway.

Saturday 26 August

RMT union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, LNER, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink, Transpennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Monday 7 August - Saturday 12 August

ASLEF union overtime ban.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, London Northwestern Railway, LNER, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, Transport for Wales (not on strike, but service changes on some routes), and West Midlands Railway.

Monday 31 July - Saturday 5 August

ASLEF union overtime ban.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, London Northwestern Railway, LNER, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, Transport for Wales (not on strike, but service changes on some routes), and West Midlands Railway.

Saturday 29 July

RMT union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Caledonian Sleeper, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, Southeastern, Southern, South Western Railway, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Saturday 22 July

RMT union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Caledonian Sleeper, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, Southeastern, Southern, South Western Railway, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Thursday 20 July

RMT union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Caledonian Sleeper, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, Southeastern, Southern, South Western Railway, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Monday 17 July - Saturday 22 July

ASLEF union overtime ban.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Thameslink, Island Line, London North East Railway, Northern, Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, Transpennine Express, and West Midlands Trains.

Saturday 3 June

ASLEF union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Friday 2 June

RMT union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Thursday 1 June

ASLEF union overtime ban.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Island Line, London North Eastern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Trains.

Wednesday 31 May

ASLEF union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Monday 15 May - Saturday 20 May

ASLEF union overtime ban.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Island Line, London North Eastern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Trains.

Saturday 13 May

RMT union strike and ASLEF union overtime ban.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Friday 12 May

ASLEF union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Saturday 1 April

A planned RMT union strike was suspended.

  • Train companies that would have been affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Thursday 30 March

A planned RMT union strike was suspended.

  • Train companies that would have been affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Friday 3 February

ASLEF union and RMT union strikes.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Wednesday 1 February

ASLEF union and RMT union strikes.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Friday 6 January - Saturday 7 January

RMT union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, LNER, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink, Transpennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Thursday 5 January

ASLEF union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Heathrow Express, Island Line, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.

Tuesday 3 January - Wednesday 4 January

RMT union strike.

  • Train companies affected: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia, GWR, LNER, Northern, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink, Transpennine Express, and West Midlands Railway.