Rail disruption alert – strike on Saturday, engineering works on Sunday

A Greater Anglia train. Credit: Greater Anglia Greater Anglia is advising rail passengers about a weekend of disruption caused by a 24-hour strike, followed by major engineering works on the company’s two main routes. ASLEF union train drivers are striking on Saturday 23 July, leaving the company unable to run about 90 per cent of its services. The following day, Sunday 24 July, major engineering works are scheduled on the Cambridge to London Liverpool Street and Norwich to London Liverpool Street main lines, with a rail replacement bus service operating for sections of both routes. Greater Anglia is urging people to avoid using Greater Anglia trains on Saturday during the strike and then to expect rail replacement bus services to be very busy with long queues on Sunday as the company anticipates more people will be travelling than usual. Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director said: “We know that the weekend of 23/24 July is really busy – the start of the summer holidays, the Latitude Festival and other events in London. “We are genuinely very sorry for all the inconvenience the strike will cause our customers, followed by major engineering works the following day when we anticipate more people might be travelling because they’re unable to make their journeys on Saturday. “Negotiations to try to resolve the pay issue causing the ASLEF drivers’ strike are continuing at an industry level and we hope we can resolve this situation soon.” Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, said: “This work is vital to upgrade the railway to support new, longer trains for West Anglia passengers and to support the next stage of the Crossrail programme which will provide better connections across London.” Strike disruption On Saturday 23 July, as a result of the drivers’ strike, there will be:

• No services between Cambridge, Bishops Stortford and London Liverpool Street
• No regional or branch line services
• A severely reduced service between Norwich and London Liverpool Street, Colchester and London and Southend Victoria and London
• A less frequent service between Stansted Airport and London Liverpool Street

There will be no rail replacement bus service running instead of those trains which are not running on Saturday because of the strike. The exact timings of services due to be operated on the strike day are still being finalised. Timetables should be available by Wednesday next week. The 24-hour strike will have a knock-on effect on Sunday, which is also affected by major engineering works. Where trains are running, they will start later than usual, with most services starting between 07.00 and 07.30. Passengers can use tickets purchased for the Saturday on either the day before (22/07), the day after (24/07) or the following Monday (25/07). Alternatively, they can change their ticket to a different date or get a refund. Other train operators in the region, Elizabeth line, c2c, Cross Country, EMR, Great Northern and London Overground, are not affected by strike action on Saturday 23 July, so their services may be a helpful alternative for some journeys. Local bus operators may also be an option for some shorter distance journeys. Engineering works Engineering works on Sunday 24 July will affect passengers travelling between London Liverpool Street and Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. Network Rail is upgrading power at Pudding Mill Lane near Stratford to provide power for Elizabeth line services, affecting services to London on the Norwich and Southend Victoria lines. A rail replacement bus service will run between Ingatestone and Newbury Park and Billericay and Newbury Park. Greater Anglia is carrying out work to extend platforms on the West Anglia line ready for its new longer ten-carriage trains. A rail replacement bus service will run between Waltham Cross and Bishop’s Stortford and between Waltham Cross and Hertford East. Passengers should check before they travel for revised times and to see if their journey is partly by rail replacement bus and allow extra time for their journey if that is the case. More details about the strike and engineering works are available on the Greater Anglia website, including how to change tickets or get refunds as a result of not being able to travel due to the strike.