Train strikes

[Slowdayinfleetstreetisit]

Just seen train strikes have been announced and it falls over weekend I’m meant to visiting London with DC. Really thinking about cancelling but just checked and hardly anything I’ve booked is refundable. I’m staying with DS so I’m theory I could drive but she’s also said most of the transport near her will be effected too as she’s in South London (no tube where she is).

Grrrr.

DS(is)

Also worth pointing out I’ve never driven in London and even the idea of it is vaguely terrifying 😳

I'm the same, in London that Saturday. My friend has just offered to drive us in.....won't be all the way but hopefully tubes will be running.

My DD has a flight booked home from uni on the 17th. With a 4 hour train journey to get to the airport.

My solution was to get a hotel room. (As I don't want to drive home late. Could you do that?

Let’s hope that they get the rise that they deserve.

FFS dd due to come home from first year at Uni on the 17th :(

Just checked the date of something dd has booked that is totally unmissable. That date's in the clear thank goodness, otherwise she'd have been sleeping on a park bench so as not to miss it.

What about coach travel?

Can I just say sorry.

I’ll speak for myself and not my colleagues but the ones I know feel the same - be assured of that.

I would dearly love to keep our hard won terms and conditions, as many maintenance crews as we can and not have my pension interfered with.

A raise would be lovely but the above paragraph seems to be the sticking point and the most important.

I am not losing money I need for something trivial and I would never upset those who travel on our railway if I could help it.

I want most of all to have a safe and well functioning railway. We try our very best from our little bottom rung of the ladder. We really do.

We just need boots on the ground to do that and to not have our job description altered to be a man for all seasons - that will not benefit the railway.

Again, I am deeply sorry but I am not striking lightly and I wish it had all been agreed and sorted months ago.

No need to apologise, I’m 💯 behind the strike action but just feeling a bit sorry for myself. I think I might take DC out of school and go to Dsis the night before and we’ll just have to bus it.

We are staying just outside London and wanting to travel in on one of the days of the strike, the train would be quicker but tube will work - how busy has it been on previous strike days?

We decided to drive to our hotel rather than risk the train due to the possibility of strikes, so have sorted parking near the hotel thank goodness.
Dh has an appointment in London on one of the in between strike days, rearranged from August due to the strike days. I still support them though, I can see past the headlines about pay and realise it’s about much more than that.

This!

It depends. I came into London in a train strike Saturday and there were trains running during day but just not past late afternoon.

Am due to travel from London to Scotland on 13th. Now I'm fucked. Great

Bllcks again 😞that’s two more weeks of driving 2hrs a day to do school run as DD goes by train, and twice the cost in fuel. Plus not being able to get my work hours in so I lose more money via unpaid leave. I understand their demands but by god it’s frustrating to cope with the impacts…

We're in trouble on 3 Jan, as we're arriving back to Stansted with no trains. But speaking as someone whose pay and pension have been chiselled away mercilessly for years...I can't blame the strikers.

Belgium had a train strike (and trams/buses) on one day I was there earlier this month, but a requirement to provide a skeleton service. So I could have made a journey if I had chosen to (did all the things local to where I was staying I wanted to do on that day).

The Tories have had years to bring in a law similar, instead of just feathering their nests or attempted virtue signalling with Rwanda. I don't think the Tories want the strikes to end because they want to use them for political gain, or see it as the equivalent of the miners strike of the 1908s.

On many of the strike days, tube drivers have also taken strike action.

I’m not sure the tubes are striking it’s more where Dsis lives in South London that there are no tubes anyway so we always take the overground (which is always effected by the strike action). Really would reschedule but such a lot of money would just be wasted.

Book a pick up from a local to you taxi. Don't rely on there being one at the rank (and they charge more)

@TheYearOfSmallThings I meant book now, my friend (taxi driver) is already fully booked & chaos will ensue if flights are lets.

Else stay at the airport & get the train back the next day.

friends/family??

which dates are the strikes? Meant to be taking the stanstead express on the 17th. Is that running?

13th-14th Dec, 16-17th Dec, 3-4th Jan and 6-7th Jan, Stanstead Express will be effected and they've got updates on their website but haven't updated since the new dates have been announced so keep checking

www.stanstedexpress.com/travel-information/rail-strike-advice/

Are there any coaches available? Tube strikes seem to have different strike days, so double check that.

Messaged DD yesterday and told her point blank to get coach booked immediately from Heathrow, which luckily she did. Last time the National Express site crashed.