Ongoing UK rail strike action thread

[art_enthusiast]

So I'm assuming that apart from the London Overground, this strike does not extend to TFL tubes?

[Dawnstar]

On 20/09/2022 at 15:42, LinMM said:

Dawn star have you thought about bussing it there and perhaps a taxi back to station? 

 

I have but as I don't think I've ever been on a London bus since we moved out of London when I was 2 years old I have grave doubts about managing to get myself several miles by London bus!

[LinMM]

Unfortunately don’t travel that direction very much otherwise I would message you and advise. It’s mostly knowing exactly where the bus stops are you need …especially around busy stations…I always find Liverpool Street difficult for that…Sometimes it can be one bus all the way though if you are lucky!! I know the No. 30 bus which stops directly outside Kings Cross station on the main road  (a very short walk) goes all the way up to Hackney but am not sure whereabouts the theatre is then once in Hackney! 

Edited September 22, 2022 by LinMM

[LinMM]

I’ve just checked and the No.30 takes you to Hackney Town Hall and the Empire Theatre is 50metres from the Town Hall. So it is one bus all the way! 
It takes 45 mins apparently! 
Well that’s when it doesn’t take 45 mins to get around Highbury Corner these days since they’ve completed the road “improvements” there!! 
I know the 30 route from Kings Cross to Highbury Corner which I use a lot when in London but not beyond that. But I would allow an hour for the journey just in case!! 
If you were coming into St. Pancras International just head out towards Kings Cross station ( 3-4 mins walk) and the row of bus stops right infront of Kings Cross station is where the 30 stops. 

[Dawnstar]

3 hours ago, LinMM said:

I’ve just checked and the No.30 takes you to Hackney Town Hall and the Empire Theatre is 50metres from the Town Hall. So it is one bus all the way! 
It takes 45 mins apparently! 
Well that’s when it doesn’t take 45 mins to get around Highbury Corner these days since they’ve completed the road “improvements” there!! 
I know the 30 route from Kings Cross to Highbury Corner which I use a lot when in London but not beyond that. But I would allow an hour for the journey just in case!! 
If you were coming into St. Pancras International just head out towards Kings Cross station ( 3-4 mins walk) and the row of bus stops right infront of Kings Cross station is where the 30 stops. 

 

Thanks for the information. I'll think about it. I'll also have to see nearer the time if Great Northern/Thameslink do indeed end up running a normal timetable or if they end up getting affected by the strikes.

[alison]

I've set up a separate thread for Transport for London strikes here:

 

[LinMM]

Sorry it looks like I’m obsessed with rail strikes but because I’m travelling in first week of October am keeping a constant look out at mo and RMT have just announced another walk out on Saturday 8th October. 
Luckily this one doesn’t affect me but may affect anyone trying to get to see Mayerling on that day. 

[LinMM]

Thameslink ( RMT union) are also striking on 1st October Dawnstar 

Id forgotten to check the date of your proposed Hackney Empire visit 😥

[Rob S]

Another RMT 24 hour strike just announced for 8th October

[Dawnstar]

3 hours ago, LinMM said:

Thameslink ( RMT union) are also striking on 1st October Dawnstar 

Id forgotten to check the date of your proposed Hackney Empire visit 😥

 

1st October, so sounds like I'm completely & unavoidably screwed for that date. I'm supposed to be seeing Mayerling on 7th so I hope that will be possible before the strike on 8th. I feel like sending these damned unions a bill for the unused theatre tickets I'm racking up due to their strikes.

[Kate_N]

Arrgh. I get back from a conference in mainland Europe late on 7th October, and need to go to another research event in central London early Saturday 8th from Gatwick. Hmmm, may have to look at bus transfers. 

[Beryl H]

19 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

1st October, so sounds like I'm completely & unavoidably screwed for that date. I'm supposed to be seeing Mayerling on 7th so I hope that will be possible before the strike on 8th. I feel like sending these damned unions a bill for the unused theatre tickets I'm racking up due to their strikes.

 

One thing I never do now is buy the train ticket in advance, that way if I have to cancel the ballet ticket I can deduct the price of the train, which is often more expensive anyway. My first Mayerling is 21st October, no train strike but casting change announced 🙂

 

[Jan McNulty]

1 hour ago, Beryl H said:

 

One thing I never do now is buy the train ticket in advance, that way if I have to cancel the ballet ticket I can deduct the price of the train, which is often more expensive anyway. My first Mayerling is 21st October, no train strike but casting change announced 🙂

 

 
If you travel long distances advance fairs may be the only way to travel economically by train.

 

20 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

1st October, so sounds like I'm completely & unavoidably screwed for that date. I'm supposed to be seeing Mayerling on 7th so I hope that will be possible before the strike on 8th. I feel like sending these damned unions a bill for the unused theatre tickets I'm racking up due to their strikes.

 

I hope you never need the help of a damned union Dawnstar…

[Lizbie1]

2 hours ago, Beryl H said:

 

One thing I never do now is buy the train ticket in advance, that way if I have to cancel the ballet ticket I can deduct the price of the train, which is often more expensive anyway. My first Mayerling is 21st October, no train strike but casting change announced 🙂

 

 

Advance train tickets have for some time been refundable (with vouchers) up to the day before under the Book with Confidence scheme. It was due to expire at the end of this month but has just been extended to the end of November.

 

NB I haven't checked all the TOCs (please do so with yours to be sure they're also running it) but here's the GWR page:

https://www.gwr.com/help-and-support/changing-your-ticket

[alison]

I've just been at Clapham Junction.  They were announcing Please don't travel unless you have to on 1st October and that they would be running a service until about 6 pm.  I think that was for South Western Railway, but it may also apply to Southern.  Presumably that will be a fairly standard pattern.

[Emeralds]

On 22/09/2022 at 20:01, Dawnstar said:

 

1st October, so sounds like I'm completely & unavoidably screwed for that date. I'm supposed to be seeing Mayerling on 7th so I hope that will be possible before the strike on 8th. I feel like sending these damned unions a bill for the unused theatre tickets I'm racking up due to their strikes.

Instead of leaving them unused, Dawnstar, why not email the box office and ask for a ticket exchange to a different date? Yes, there is a £4 (I think) admin charge but it’s better than not being able to go at all.

 

If that particular performance is very important to you and you really don’t want to switch dates, there are two other options: coach and/or bus, or stay overnight in a hotel and travel the next day after the schedule is back to normal.

 

The hotel idea isn’t as extravagant as it seems- there are plenty of safe, inexpensive and clean hotels in cheaper areas (eg Holiday Inn, Premier Inn, Travel Lodge etc)  near conference centres or travel hubs that you can get the Tube to, and are not in the expensive districts of Covent Garden or Aldwych. I once did this to attend an evening performance of Romeo and Juliet by BRB in Birmingham (for Chi Cao and Nao Sakuma’s farewells) for which it wasn’t possible to return home south on the same night. It was actually very comfortable with great quality furnishings (large hotel, economies of scale)  even at the budget price, and I managed to fit in a long awaited reunion with college friends, so it worked out cheaper than if I had gone to see my friends separately. 

[Dawnstar]

On 23/09/2022 at 15:30, Beryl H said:

One thing I never do now is buy the train ticket in advance, that way if I have to cancel the ballet ticket I can deduct the price of the train, which is often more expensive anyway. My first Mayerling is 21st October, no train strike but casting change announced 🙂

 

Fortunately I never buy train tickets in advance for travelling to London, as there is no discount for advance booking, so at least I won't be losing train ticket money.

 

On 23/09/2022 at 16:48, Jan McNulty said:

 I hope you never need the help of a damned union Dawnstar…

 

I would never join a union so that issue will never arise for me.

 

On 23/09/2022 at 20:29, Emeralds said:

Instead of leaving them unused, Dawnstar, why not email the box office and ask for a ticket exchange to a different date? Yes, there is a £4 (I think) admin charge but it’s better than not being able to go at all.

 

If that particular performance is very important to you and you really don’t want to switch dates, there are two other options: coach and/or bus, or stay overnight in a hotel and travel the next day after the schedule is back to normal.

 

Unfortunately there's only the 1 performance of that opera at the venue & the other 2 operas in ETO's autumn tour I'm booked for at my nearest venue at the end of October. Only 2 of the 3 operas are being performed there, hence I was going to London for the 3rd opera. So there's no other date I can exchange to. I considered the coach but the coach times mean that I'd probably not be able to get back home that night. Staying overnight in a hotel on my own isn't possible due to my anxiety issues.

[Jan McNulty]

8 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

 

 

I would never join a union so that issue will never arise for me.

 

 

 

If you work somewhere where a Union is available I would strongly advise you to reconsider your position.  Unions do so much more than organise strikes for example negotiating pay increases, representing people who may be having issues in work and sometimes providing legal advice for loosely work-related issues.

 

On the whole the Trades' Union movement is a force for good.

 

I was a civil servant for most of my career and in the early 1990s there was an issue on our site where a number of people were sacked.  The union took up their cases (apart from people not in the union who had to fight their own cause) and all except 2 were cleared of what they had been accused of and were offered their jobs back or the civil service version of redundancy, whichever they chose.

 

Sorry to go off topic but I found you initial comment offensive and don't understand your blank refusal to consider joining a union.

[zxDaveM]

no unions - no weekend, no paid holidays, no maximum working hours, no minimum wage, no 2-way honouring of employer/employee contract, no maternity/paternity leave, no pay rise discussions, etc, etc

[LinMM]

Certainly as a teacher for example I wouldn’t dream of not belonging to a union as you never know when something very unusual may happen…like a drunk parent walking into your classroom and assaulting you…usually things can be solved without recourse to further action but you never know if you might need to and without Union membership you can be in a very difficult position. Also we do tend to forget and take for granted all the good things that have come about over the years through their work. 
Relying on others philanthropy just does not always work because not all employers are reasonable or responsible. 
Anyway I was going to suggest Dawnstar that although initially it may sound a bit weird perhaps you could explore staying in a hotel like a Travelodge or Premier inn or Ibis ( as these not too expensive) where you actually live to see what it’s like. Most of the time ..if you want …once you’ve got the card key to your room you don’t have to leave it so it’s pretty safe. You can also ask for a quiet room and certainly Premier Inn are very obliging about this whenever they can. We then note the room numbers in certain hotels and then ask for them directly the next time we visit and we have either got them or a room very close by!! 
Often a Sunday night is a good choice if experimenting as rooms can be booked for as little as £25 per night if booked well enough in advance. 

Edited September 25, 2022 by LinMM

[Emeralds]

16 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Fortunately I never buy train tickets in advance for travelling to London, as there is no discount for advance booking, so at least I won't be losing train ticket money.

 

 

I would never join a union so that issue will never arise for me.

 

 

Unfortunately there's only the 1 performance of that opera at the venue & the other 2 operas in ETO's autumn tour I'm booked for at my nearest venue at the end of October. Only 2 of the 3 operas are being performed there, hence I was going to London for the 3rd opera. So there's no other date I can exchange to. I considered the coach but the coach times mean that I'd probably not be able to get back home that night. Staying overnight in a hotel on my own isn't possible due to my anxiety issues.

Oh, I thought it was an RB show that was affected. If it’s any consolation, I’ve had a show I couldn’t get to this week on time, and it wasn’t even due to a strike. Someone reportedly fell onto the track and got hit by a train- apparently he/she wasn’t pushed and wasn’t fooling about so I presume it was an accident, eg illness. The trains - even those not actually on the route, bizarrely- were delayed then cancelled altogether for the next 3 hours and this was rush hour time. We ended having to drive part of the way as we could not let my friend down, but we had missed the key part of the concert- the concerto. And despite being a shorter rail journey because I’d driven half of it, the tickets were 50% more expensive  because it started in Zone 4. 

 

Well, there’s a small chance the strikes could get called off. Other options might be whether you can get someone to come with you, or to leave the opera early to catch the coach/bus (I had to do this twice at ballets in the past - I preferred to see two thirds of the show than to not see it at all). You might feel it’s not worth it if you have to miss the ending, or perhaps you might feel half the show is better than nothing. Do they not have an alternative date in London for that opera? Remember, the strike could still get called off, or changed to a different date. Good luck! 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Emeralds

[LinMM]

I certainly hope the strike dates are NOT changed at this point as just spent a fortune on tickets up to Southport working around the strike dates and hotel is now booked!! 
Incidentally I took my return ticket into Brighton booking office yesterday and managed to get a seat now for the return journey which I couldn’t get last week so things are looking up. 
 

It looks like there could possibly be an end to the strikes in view though as Mike Lynch has said he seems to be getting on better with the new Transport Secretary ( well anybody would be better than the last one to be honest) and there may be more room for negotiation with her… so fingers crossed. 

[Dawnstar]

12 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

Sorry to go off topic but I found you initial comment offensive and don't understand your blank refusal to consider joining a union.

 

I'm sorry, it never occurred to me that anyone could consider the word "damned" offensive nowadays. Belive me, that was the far more polite version compared to the words I used out loud when I read confirmation of the latest strike dates! I would never join a union because my views are conservative (small c, I certainly don't agree with many of the current Conservative Party's policies). No, I have never had a job where joining a union has even been an option, to my knowledge. After graduating I spent 12 years temping, & have been unemployed since the start of the pandemic. I am sorry if this is too off topic but you did ask. If you want to delete this post please do so.

 

@EmeraldsNo, unfortunately there's just the one performance in London. There are only 5 performances altogether and as the others are in Poole, Malvern, Buxton & Exeter, none of which are what you'd call handy for Cambridge!

Edited September 25, 2022 by Dawnstar

[Jan McNulty]

49 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I'm sorry, it never occurred to me that anyone could consider the word "damned" offensive nowadays. Belive me, that was the far more polite version compared to the words I used out loud when I read confirmation of the latest strike dates! I would never join a union because my views are conservative (small c, I certainly don't agree with many of the current Conservative Party's policies). No, I have never had a job where joining a union has even been an option, to my knowledge. After graduating I spent 12 years temping, & have been unemployed since the start of the pandemic. I am sorry if this is too off topic but you did ask. If you want to delete this post please do so.

 

It was the usage of the word rather than the word itself.  If you have seen Mick Lynch, leader of the RMT, talking about the reasons for the strike it is not only about pay rises but working conditions where companies want drivers to work overtime and on rest days on demand.  Given the fact that a train driver driving a train could be responsible for several hundred lives I would prefer to know that they are safe to drive and not likely to fall asleep at the controls.  Train drivers IMHO have the same responsibilities as airline pilots who have strictly controlled and enforced rest days for safety reasons.

 

I'm sorry about your current lack of employment.

[Dawnstar]

24 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

I'm sorry about your current lack of employment.

 

That's nice of you but I'm actually quite happy not working as I dislike going out to work. (My mother is getting less happy!)

[Emeralds]

2 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I'm sorry, it never occurred to me that anyone could consider the word "damned" offensive nowadays. Belive me, that was the far more polite version compared to the words I used out loud when I read confirmation of the latest strike dates! I would never join a union because my views are conservative (small c, I certainly don't agree with many of the current Conservative Party's policies). No, I have never had a job where joining a union has even been an option, to my knowledge. After graduating I spent 12 years temping, & have been unemployed since the start of the pandemic. I am sorry if this is too off topic but you did ask. If you want to delete this post please do so.

 

@EmeraldsNo, unfortunately there's just the one performance in London. There are only 5 performances altogether and as the others are in Poole, Malvern, Buxton & Exeter, none of which are what you'd call handy for Cambridge!

That’s unlucky re: the programming of that one opera. Well, we’d better collectively cross our fingers that the negotiations get finished and resolved satisfactorily before then! 🍀🍀🍀 I don’t think  the staff want to go on strike either- they just want the pay and job conditions settled and to be able to go back to work.

[alison]

"National rail strikes are taking place on Wednesday 5 and Saturday 8 October. 

The majority of TfL's services will run, but there will be significant disruption on the London Overground. The Elizabeth line, Bakerloo and District lines will also be affected.

On Wednesday 5 October, there will be no service on the London Overground.

Night Overground services on Friday 7 October will finish earlier than normal at 04:00 on Saturday morning. There will be no Saturday Night Overground service on Saturday 8 October.

On Saturday 8 October, there will be a reduced service on the London Overground between 08:00 and 18:00. There will be no service between 04:00 and 08:00, and after 18:00. 

Customers using these services the day after each strike are advised that there should be a good service by late morning."

[jmhopton]

Just seen this about Avanti. 

 

7 October 2022

RMT Press Office:

Train managers on Avanti West Coast will take strike action on Oct 22 in a row over the imposition of rosters.

RMT members will also walkout on Sunday 6 November.

 

Presumably trains aren't allowed to run without a manager, so how am I going to get home after Vadim's  opening night in Mayerling on the 21st? How am I going to get to Men in Motion on the 6th Nov? Both of which I booked tickets and accommodation for months ago. I don't want to spend 2 nights in London with rocketing accommodation prices so will have to hope some trains are running if I can book any tickets at all as none are currently available. They usually do become available eventually but I don't know if that's the case if there's a strike. Has anyone been able to book tickets once a strike has been announced?

Edited October 9, 2022 by jmhopton
Extra info

[alison]

  And to add insult to injury I now see that Avanti has been given until the beginning of April to sort itself out.

[Jan McNulty]

9 minutes ago, alison said:

  And to add insult to injury I now see that Avanti has been given until the beginning of April to sort itself out.

 

You're way more polite than the post I thought I better hadn't post!!

[Balletfanp]

1 hour ago, jmhopton said:

Just seen this about Avanti. 

 

7 October 2022

RMT Press Office:

Train managers on Avanti West Coast will take strike action on Oct 22 in a row over the imposition of rosters.

RMT members will also walkout on Sunday 6 November.

 

Presumably trains aren't allowed to run without a manager, so how am I going to get home after Vadim's  opening night in Mayerling on the 21st? How am I going to get to Men in Motion on the 6th Nov? Both of which I booked tickets and accommodation for months ago. I don't want to spend 2 nights in London with rocketing accommodation prices so will have to hope some trains are running if I can book any tickets at all as none are currently available. They usually do become available eventually but I don't know if that's the case if there's a strike. Has anyone been able to book tickets once a strike has been announced?

Would the coach be an option, at least to travel back? It would take longer, granted, but as a one-off, possible?

[Sim]

I can’t find the words to express my feelings about Avanti without breaching forum rules…🤬🤬🤬

[Kate_N]

I feel your pain, Sim. The West Coast line is probably one of the worst in the country. And yet it serves so many major cities, and there are few alternatives. Still, who cares about Northerners? <sarcasm font off>