Expected rail strikes on First Great Western, Southern Rail and Northern Rail services

Several rail strikes could severly affect the UK rail network this month as the Rail and Maritime Transport (RMT) Union has announced several strike actions among First Great Western, Southern Rail and Northern Rail workers.

• First Great Western: 48 hours strike from 6.30 pm on Wednesday 8 July 2015. the strike action is about a dispute over plans to axe guards and buffet cars on First Great Western’s new Hitachi Inter City Express trains.
• Southern Rail: five day strike from 5pm on Sunday 12 July until 5pm on Friday 17th of July 2015, because of a “comprehensive breakdown” in industrial relations.
• Northern Rail: no dates have been set yet but rail workers have also voted for a strike action against zero-hour contract an the ticket offices cuts.

Major disruptions for train passengers

The rail strikes are expected to cause major disruptions for train passengers and some events should be affected by the rail strike including the Cornbury Music Festival and England vs Australia cricket game in Cardiff. First Great Western already notified its passengers that no trains are expected to operate on the following train routes:

• Trains between Severn beach and Bristol Temple Meads
• Trains between Looe and Liskeard
• Trains between Newquay and Par
• Trains between Falmouth and Truro
• Trains between Greenford and London Paddington
• Trains between Weymouth and Westbury
• Trains between Swindon and Westbury via Melksham

First Great Western has indicated that full refund will be available for passengers and arrangements will be me made to compensate season tickets holders.

Find transport alternatives

Other transportation modes, such as coach services and ride sharing, are available for you to travel despite of the train strike. You can find all travel options available on our multimodal travel search engine.

> Search for travel alternatives

Source: First Great Western, Southern Railway, Northern Rail, BBC, Bristolpost