Anyone intending to travel by train between Friday, 1 and Saturday, 9 December should check their journeys before they travel as services are liable to disruption because of industrial action by the ASLEF union on various dates during that period.

Between Saturday, 2 and Friday, 8 December excluding Monday, 4 December drivers will strike for 24 hours on dates that vary from company to company. There will also be an overtime ban between Friday, 1 and Saturday, 9 December.

Train operators will operate as many trains as possible, but there will be wide regional variations, with some operators being unable to operate any services on strike days. Services that do run on strike days will start later and finish much earlier than usual, typically between 7.30 am and 6.30 pm.

Between 2 and 8 December, on some lines, it is probable that services will be disrupted on the evening before and morning after each strike because many trains will not be in the right place.

The industrial dispute comes as the union leadership continues to block the rail industry’s offer giving drivers an 8 per cent pay rise over two years, increasing their average annual salary to almost 65,000 for a typical 4-day week.

A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group said: This unnecessary and avoidable industrial action called by the ASLEF leadership has been targeted to disrupt customers and businesses ahead of the vital festive period, where people will be attending events and catching up with friends and loved ones. It will also inflict further damage on an industry that is receiving up to an additional 175m a month in taxpayer cash to keep services running, following the covid downturn.

As the level of service varies across the country, our advice is to check before you travel and follow the latest travel information. Customers with Advance, Anytime or Off-Peak tickets for travel between Saturday 2 December and Friday 8 December can instead use their tickets any time between Friday 1 December and Tuesday 12 December. Those with Advance tickets can be refunded fee-free if the train that the ticket is booked for is cancelled, delayed, or rescheduled.

It doesn t have to be this way. The ASLEF leadership are blocking a fair and affordable offer made by industry in the Spring would take average driver base salaries for a 4-day week from 60,000 to nearly 65,000. We urge them to put it to its members, give Christmas back to our customers, and end this damaging industrial dispute.

Anyone with tickets for the period can either apply for a refund or use the ticket to travel on an alternative date.

Advance, Anytime or Off-Peak tickets purchased before 17 November for travel between Saturday, 2 December and Friday, 8 December can be used any time between Friday, 1 December and Tuesday, 12 December.

If a customer has an Advance ticket for a train that is scheduled for a strike day, and that service is not cancelled, delayed or rescheduled, but the customer prefers not to travel, they should contact the retailer from where they purchased their ticket.

Customers with two Advance tickets (an outbound and a return) for a return journey, may be able to get a refund free of charge or change their journey for any unused legs/tickets if either of the legs is scheduled for a strike day. Customers should check with their ticket retailer.
Passengers with flexi, monthly, or longer season tickets who do not travel, can claim 100% compensation for the strike dates through Delay Repay.

Further travel advice can be obtained from the National Rail Enquiries or their rail operator’s websites.