Rail strikes: Which trains are running on Saturday?

Many of the UK’s trains services will be off-limits

This week, commuters and holidaymakers alike will be hit by two UK-wide train strikes, as members of the RMT Union walk out for 24 hours on both Thursday 18 and Saturday 20 August.

In between, London travel will be hampered by a Tube strike and a bus strike on 19 August, as members of the RMT and Unite unions walk out in unison on Friday, as well as bus drivers employed by London United walking out on both 19 and 20 August.

For the UK-wide affected days - Thursday and Saturday - not every service will be cancelled, though train companies have published heavily slashed schedules.

So which trains are planned to run on the two RMT strike days? Here’s everything we know.

Avanti West Coast

Avanti will run a heavily reduced service on 18 and 20 August, and has published its timetables for both days. Between 8am and 4pm, one hourly service is scheduled to run from Euston to Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Preston, with a limited service on to Glasgow.

The first service of the day from Glasgow to London on Thursday is at 7.54, with three further services at 10.08, 12.22 and 14.37. On Saturday the first Glasgow-London service is at 8.27am. Only four trains will run from London Euston all the way to Glasgow Central (with stops at the Lake District, Preston and Carlisle): the 8.30, 10.30, the 12.07 and the 13.30.

By and large, all “last services of the day” depart before 4pm - the last Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston train leaves at 15.56. Trains to Manchester Piccadilly will call at Stafford and Crewe only. Avanti is advising all customers against non-essential train travel.

C2C

”Severe disruption expected” reads the alert from C2C, which is expecting to run around a third of normal services, with trains running between 7.30am and 6.30pm only. These will include:

• Two trains per hour from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness via Laindon
• Two trains per hour from Fenchurch Street to Pitsea via Rainham

The first trains on both 18 and 20 August will be:

07.30 Shoeburyness to Fenchurch Street

07.32 Basildon to Fenchurch Street

07.36 Grays to Fenchurch Street

07.44 Pitsea to Fenchurch Street via Rainham

The last trains on both 18 and 20 August will be:

17.00 Fenchurch Street to Pitsea via Rainham

17.05 Fenchurch St to Shoeburyness via Laindon

17.28 Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness

17.37 Fenchurch Street to Grays via Rainham

Chiltern Railway

Chiltern services will only run from 8am-5pm. The train services on Thursday will be:

• One train per hour Marylebone - stations to Oxford Parkway (and vice-versa).
• One train per hour Marylebone - stations to Banbury (and vice versa).
• One train per hour Marylebone - stations to Aylesbury (via High Wycombe, and vice-versa).
• One train per hour Aylesbury Vale Parkway - stations to Amersham (and vice-versa).

The train services on Saturday will be:

• Two trains per hour Marylebone - stations to High Wycombe (and vice-versa).
• One train per hour Marylebone - stations to Aylesbury (via Amersham, and vice-versa).

CrossCountry

Thursday 18 August: A “limited service” will run between Birmingham New Street and Bristol Temple Meads, with the last service departing 17.12. One train per hour Birmingham New St to Reading, from Birmingham New St to Leeds and York, and Birmingham New St to Leicester (last departures: 15.04 and 15.03 and 17.22 respectively). One train per hour from Birmingham New St to Manchester Piccadilly, with the last at 15.57. Two direct services will run Birmingham New St to Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley: 11.03 and 13.03. Expect an extremely limited service on other lines.

Saturday 20 August: One train per hour will run from Birmingham New St to Reading; one train in total from Derby to Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley; four trains will run from Derby to York via Leeds; and one train per hour from Birmingham New St to Manchester Piccadilly. Broadly speaking, all services depart within the time frame of 7.30am and 6.30pm, with some “last services” departing as early as 15.04.

East Midlands

On Thursday and Saturday, EMR services will operate between 7.30 and 18.30 only.

On Thursday 18 August, they will be:

• One train per hour between Nottingham and London
• One train per hour between Sheffield and London
• One train per hour between Derby and Matlock
• One train per hour between Derby and Nottingham
• One train per hour between Leicester and Nottingham

On Saturday 20 August, they will be:

• One train per hour between Nottingham and London
• One train per hour between Sheffield and London
• One train per hour between Derby and Matlock
• One train per hour between Derby and Nottingham

Some last services depart as early as 15.56, so do check the operator’s amended timetables.

Heathrow Express

On both 18 and 20 August, a full service will operate between 07.30 and 18.10.

From London Paddington the first service is 07.40, then every 15 minutes until 18.10. From Heathrow Terminal 5 the first services is 7.30, then every 15 minutes until the last at 17:57. From Heathrow Central first service is 07.35, then every 15 minutes until 18.02.

Grand Central

Thursday:

Grand Central will run three services from Northallerton to London Kings Cross and vice versa. The services from Northallerton will depart: 7.55, 9.54, 11.16 (calling at Thirsk and York). The services from London Kings Cross will depart: 11:24, 12.56, 14.24 (calling at York and Thirsk).

Three services will run from Wakefield to London Kings Cross, via Doncaster. These depart at 7.59, 8.58, 12.28. In the opposite direction, trains from London depart at 10.57, 14.56, 15.40.

Saturday:

Grand Central will run three services from Northallerton to London Kings Cross and vice versa. The services from Northallerton will depart: 7.55, 9.33, 11.04 (calling at Thirsk and York). The services from London Kings Cross will depart: 11.24, 13.38, 14.38 (calling at York and Thirsk).

Three services will run from Wakefield to London Kings Cross, via Doncaster. These depart at 7.59, 9.30, 12.14. In the opposite direction, trains from London depart at 10.48, 14.56, 15.34.

Thameslink and Great Northern

• Two trains an hour will run from St Pancras International and Bedford
• Two trains an hour will run between St Pancras International and Luton
• One train per hour will run between King’s Cross and Ely
• A further one train per hour will run between Cambridge and Ely
• One train per hour will run between King’s Cross and Cambridge
• Two trains per hour will run between King’s Cross and Peterborough
• Two trains per hour will run between King’s Cross and Welwyn Garden City
• Two trains per hour will run between King’s Cross and Stevenage

Broadly speaking, first trains depart at 7.30am or 8am and last ones at 5.30 or 6pm, but times vary so do check the operator’s amended timetable.

Southern and Thameslink

• Two trains per hour will run between London Victoria and Brighton
• Two trains per hour will run between London Bridge and Brighton
• Two trains per hour will run between London Bridge and Gatwick Airport
• Two trains per hour will run between Brighton and Hove
• Two trains per hour will run between London Victoria and Sutton
• Two trains per hour will run between London Victoria and Epsom Downs
• Two trains per hour will run between London Victoria and West Croydon
• Two trains per hour will run between London Bridge and Tattenham Corner

Broadly speaking, first trains depart at 7.30am or 8am and last ones at 5.30 or 6pm, but times vary so do check the operator’s amended timetable.

Great Western Rail (GWR)

“An extremely limited service will operate between 07.00 and 18.30, and the last trains will leave much earlier,” says GWR.

GWR has not yet published a timetable of which services will run on 18 and 20 August, though you can check whether your journey will be running on its online search tool. However we do know which routes and lines will not be operating - find them here.

Hull Trains

On both Thursday and Saturday, Hull Trains is only operating a limited service between King’s Cross to Doncaster between 7.30am and 6.30pm. The first Doncaster to King’s Cross service on both days is at 7.30; the last King’s Cross service is at 17.40 on the Thursday and 17.42 on the Saturday.

It also has some early finishing and late starting services either side of the strike days - find details of those here.

Island Line

The Isle of Wight’s Island Line is not affected by the strikes and will run as normal.

LNER

On Thursday, LNER is planning to run:

• One to two trains per hour from Edinburgh Waverly to Newcastle and York
• Two trains most hours from Edinburgh Waverly to London King’s Cross
• One train every hour from Leeds to London King’s Cross
• One to two trains per hour from London King’s Cross to York, Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley
• One train every hour from London King’s Cross to Leeds
• Two trains most hours from Newcastle to Edinburgh
• Two trains most hours from Newcastle to York and London
• Two trains most hours from York to Newcastle and Edinburgh
• Two trains most hours from York to London King’s Cross

Watch out for early-finishing services: the last London to Leeds train departs at 15.05. Check the operator timetable for other early finishes.

LNER has not yet published its timetable for Saturday 20 August.

London Northwestern

On both strike days, London Northwestern will run:

• Two trains per hour from Northampton to London Euston (from 7.40-16.40)
• Two trains per hour from London Euston to Northampton (from 7.33 to 17.03)
• Two trains per hour from Bletchley to London Euston (from 7.37 to 17.01)
• Two trains per hour from London Euston to Bletchley (from 7.33 to 17.30)
• One train per hour from Birmingham New St to Northampton (from 7.34 to 17.14)
• One train per hour from Northampton to Birmingham New St (from 7.38 to 17.38)

Last train times vary so do check the operator’s emergency timetable.

Lumo

“Whilst Lumo colleagues were not balloted as part of the RMT campaign and are not included in plans for any strike action, the industrial action announced by the RMT on August 18 and 20 will involve Network Rail staff who operate signalling systems and other train operating companies colleagues, who manage facilities at stations,” explains the budget London-Scotland rail operator.

It is planning to run three trains per day from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh and vice versa on strike days. Four per day will run on Friday 19. Lumo is urging customers to check live timetables ahead of their journey.

Merseyrail

Merseyrail is running an hourly service calling at selected stations only between 7.30 and 6.30pm only. Trains will run hourly between:

• Rock Ferry and Liverpool Central
• New Brighton and Liverpool Central
• West Kirby and Liverpool Central
• Southport and Liverpool Central
• Ormskirk and Liverpool Central
• Kirkby and Liverpool Central

These will only call at selected stops in between. Some services see a last train as early as 17.25 so do check the operator’s strike day timetable.

Northern

Northern is also sticking to 7.30am to 6.30pm on strike days, when an hourly service will run on the following routes:

• Liverpool to Manchester
• Manchester to Alderley Edge
• Leeds to York
• Leeds to Ilkley
• Leeds to Skipton
• Leeds to Sheffield
• Leeds to Bradford

For exact timings, check the operator’s amended timetable.

ScotRail

While ScotRail’s staff are not on strike, it says: “the planned strikes on those days will cause disruption to ScotRail services, as Network Rail Scotland signallers and maintenance staff, who are in safety-critical roles, will be on strike”. As such, trains will run only between 7.30 and 18.30, and only on these routes:

• Edinburgh – Glasgow via Falkirk High: two trains per hour
• Edinburgh – Helensburgh: two trains per hour
• Glasgow – Hamilton/Larkhall: two trains per hour 
• Glasgow – Lanark: two trains per hour 
• Edinburgh – Glasgow via Shotts: one train per hour
• Edinburgh – Inverkeithing: two trains per hour
• Edinburgh – Tweedbank: two trains per hour
• Edinburgh – North Berwick: one train per hour
• Glasgow Queen St – Larbert: one train per hour
• Glasgow Queen St – Falkirk Grahamston: one train per hour
• Milngavie – Springburn: two trains per hour

South Western

“A severely reduced service will operate between 07.30 and 18.30. Large parts of our network will have no services at all,” says South Western. Only these routes will run:

• Waterloo to Southampton (via Woking and Basingstoke) and vice versa
• Waterloo to Woking (via Surbiton and Walton-on-Thames) and vice versa
• Waterloo to Basingstoke (via Woking and Fleet) and vice versa
• Waterloo to Windsor (via Putney, Isleworth and Staines) and vice versa

Southeastern

“Only 44 out of 180 stations will be open. No rail replacement buses will serve stations which are closed,” warns Southeastern of Thursday 20. On Saturday, only 43 stations will be open. However, these routes will be operational:

Thursday:

• Ashford to London St Pancras via Ebbsfleet International (and vice versa)
• Dartford to London Bridge via Woolwich (and vice versa)
• Dartford to London Bridge via Bexleyheath (and vice versa)
• Dartford to London Bridge via Sidcup (and vice versa)
• Orpington / Sevenoaks to London Bridge via Grove Park

Saturday:

• Ashford to London St Pancras via Ebbsfleet International (and vice versa)
• Dartford to London Bridge via Woolwich (and vice versa)
• Dartford to London Victoria via Bexleyheath (and vice versa)
• Dartford to London Victoria via Sidcup (and vice versa)
• Orpington / Sevenoaks to London Victoria (and vice versa)

All trains will run from around 7.30 to around 6pm. Check the amended timetable here.

TransPennine Express

Preston to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport: five departures each way, roughly between 8.30 and 17.30.

York to Manchester Piccadilly (via Dewsbury & Huddersfield): nine departures each way, roughly between 8.00 and 17.00. Three to four services will only call at a handful of stops.

Edinburgh to Newcastle: Thursday will see two services going south (09.33, 14.10), one service going north (13.17). On Saturday there will be no services between Newcastle and Edinburgh in either direction.

Cleethorpes to Sheffield: five services going each way, roughly between 7.30 and 17.00. The first service of the day will not call at Barnetby.

Check all amended timetables here.

Transport for Wales

Nearly all Transport for Wales services will shut down on both strike days, with the exception of two “essential travel only” services:

• Between Cardiff Central and Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare, Treherbert and Rhymney
• One hourly service between Cardiff and Newport

West Midlands

The following services will be operational:

• Birmingham - Northampton - London Euston
• Birmingham - Wolverhampton - Crewe
• Lichfield - Birmingham - Bromsgrove / Redditch

These will broadly run between 7.30 and 18.15 - check first and last train times here.