Update ahead of this Saturday’s (13th August) strike by the ASLEF trade union (train drivers) when there will be no service on the majority of the GWR network.
GWR will run a very limited service on the routes listed on their dedicated strike webpage here: www.gwr.com/strike. These services will be very busy and will start later and finish much earlier than normal. Disruption will continue into Sunday 14th August, and the advice to customers is to check before travel and only travel if absolutely necessary.
Journey planners are being updated and where they can they are contacting customers directly to make them aware of the changes. Any help you can give to share this message amongst your networks will be gratefully received, GWR want to ensure that anyone who is thinking of travelling by train this weekend is aware of the severe disruption. GWR will be in touch again next week with detail on the RMT and TSSA action planned for Thursday 18th and Saturday 20th August. One of the three separate negotiations between the TSSA and Network Rail was approved by members last week, and GWR continue to work to resolve all outstanding disputes.
You may also have seen that hot weather is forecast for later this week, with the potential to disrupt rail services through temporary speed restrictions and short-notice cancellations. Their teams will be watching this carefully, and customers should check before they travel through National Rail Enquiries or on www.gwr.com.
Anything you can do to alert your networks, constituents, members, staff and customers about the impact of the strike and the need to check before travelling would be very helpful.
