A Greater Anglia train. Credit: Greater Anglia Greater Anglia is reminding people that four days of strikes next week are set to severely disrupt rail services. The train company is advising people to avoid travelling on their trains for two 48-hour RMT strikes on Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14, Friday 16 and Saturday 17 December. Greater Anglia will only be able to run mainline services to London Liverpool Street from Norwich, Colchester, Southend Victoria and Cambridge and the Stansted Express airport service – with first trains from 07.30 and last trains completing their journeys by 18.30. Train services on Thursday 15 and Sunday 18 December will start later in the morning – from 07.30 – and are expected to be busy as a result of the two 48-hour strikes. The RMT has called a further strike from 18.00 on Christmas Eve until 05.59 on Tuesday 27 December. Details are still be finalised, but it’s likely to leave Greater Anglia running no trains after 16.00 on Christmas Eve, no Stansted Express services on Boxing Day and first trains on Tuesday 27 December will starting later than usual and not until after 07.30. Greater Anglia managing director Jamie Burles said: “We are very sorry that these strikes are disrupting people’s festive plans and badly affecting businesses counting on Christmas custom – as well as making it difficult for people to get to work and school or college. “Unfortunately, we are left with no option but to ask people to avoid travelling with us because as with previous strike days we are only able to run a small fraction of our usual services. “We will do all we can to run the best possible service in the days between strikes – from Sunday 18 to Friday 23 December. “The rail industry remains committed to settling has tried very hard to try to settle this dispute and talks are continuing.” Trains running on 13,14, 16 and 17 December are:
- Intercity service between Norwich and London Liverpool Street: one train an hour, with first train from Norwich at 08.00 and last train back from Liverpool Street at 16.30.
- Stopping service between Colchester and London Liverpool Street: one train an hour, with first train from Colchester at 07.30 and last train back from Liverpool Street at 17.00.
- Service between Southend Victoria and London Liverpool Street: two trains an hour, with first train from Southend Victoria at 07.30 and last train back from Liverpool Street at 17.30.
- Service between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street: one train an hour, with first train from Cambridge at 08.20 and last train back from Liverpool Street at 16.25.
- Stansted Express – Stansted Airport to London Liverpool Street: two trains an hour, with first and last from Liverpool Street at 08.10 and 17.40 and from Stansted Airport at 07.42 and 17.12.
Anyone who has booked a ticket to travel on strike days will be able to travel either the day before or up to and including Tuesday 20 December instead, or they can contact their retailer for a refund or to change the date. Tickets for 24, 26, and 27 December can instead be used on 23 December or up to and including Thursday 29 December. Trains not running due to the strike will not be replaced by buses. The RMT has further strikes planned for Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 January. RMT members due to strike in December and January include Greater Anglia station, catering, revenue protection, train cleaning and conductor teams, along with Network Rail signallers and maintenance staff. Further information about the strikes can be found at greateranglia.co.uk/strikes.