Greater Anglia and Stansted Express drivers to strike on Saturday

Because of planned industrial action by rail union ASLEF next Saturday, passengers intending to travel by Greater Anglia and the Stansted Express are being advised to check their journeys before they travel.

The strikes may impact people going to see Coldplay at Wembley Stadium, and football fans planning to travel to matches at Norwich City, Cambridge United, Ipswich Town, Peterborough United, Colchester United, and Arsenal.

Greater Anglia has already experienced strike action by the RMT this year on 2nd July and by ASLEF on 30th July.

Saturday, 13th August:

There will be no trains on the following routes:

• London Liverpool Street and Cambridge North;
• Norwich and Cambridge/Stansted Airport, Sheringham, Lowestoft, and Great Yarmouth;
• Ipswich and Cambridge, Peterborough, Felixstowe, and Lowestoft;
• Marks Tey and Sudbury.
• All other branch lines: Hertford East to Broxbourne, Braintree to Witham, Southminster to Wickford, Harwich Town to Manningtree, Clacton/Walton-on-the-Naze to Colchester, Colchester Town to Colchester, Meridian Water to Stratford.

The following services will be running:

• Intercity service between Norwich and London Liverpool Street – one train an hour, with first and last trains from Norwich at 08.00 and 19.00, and from Liverpool Street at 10.30 and 21.30;
• Stopping service between Colchester and London Liverpool Street – one train an hour, with first and last trains from Colchester at 08.13 and 20.13, and from Liverpool Street at 10.00 and 22.00;
• Between Southend Victoria and London Liverpool Street – one train an hour, with first and last trains from Southend Victoria at 08.13 and 22.00, and from Liverpool Street at 09.47 and 23.45;
• Stansted Express – one train an hour, between 07.00 to 19.00. Due to engineering works a limited rail replacement bus service will operate between Waltham Cross and Harlow Town.

Passengers intending to travel to Stansted Airport are advised to make alternative travel arrangements.
Train operators in the region not affected by strike action are Elizabeth line, c2c, East Midlands Railway, and Great Northern.

Sunday 14 August:

• Because of the disruption caused by the strike, services will start later than usual.
• There will be no direct Stansted Express services.
• A limited alternative rail service will be available between London and Stansted Airport using Great Northern, and Thameslink trains between Kings Cross and Cambridge then Greater Anglia and Cross Country trains between Cambridge and Stansted Airport.

Timetables and details of first and last train times will be available on the Greater Anglia website, app, and social media as soon as they are finalised.

Passengers who have tickets bought for a strike day can use them either the day before or the two days after the strike day. They can also change their ticket to a different date or get a refund.

Further strikes have also been called as follows:

• National rail strikes by the RMT on Thursday, 18th and Saturday, 20th August;
• RMT strike action on the London Underground on Friday, 19th August;
• Industrial action short of a strike by Greater Anglia members of rail union TSSA from 18th to 20th August.

Greater Anglia managing director Jamie Burles said:

“We know that many people from our region would have been planning to travel by train either to the football or to see Coldplay or for the many other events around our region on Saturday.

“Unfortunately, our advice is avoid travelling on our trains because with our train drivers on strike we can't run 90 per cent of our services.

“Work is continuing at an industry level to try to resolve the dispute with ASLEF, the RMT, and TSSA, so we can resume our usual punctual and reliable service.

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience these strikes are causing our customers.”