Train travel on 21st July (between the 2 strike days)

[Crunchymum]

Booked tickets to travel on this day ages ago but am now expecting it to be awful.

Does anyone know if the train companies put number restrictions on the amount of tickets they sell (to prevent overcrowding) or will it be a free for all like getting on the tube in rush hour? So despite having tickets we may not be able to get on the train we've booked?

I'm travelling on my own with 3 young children so getting a bit stressed. No option for alternative travel unfortunately.

Can you reserve seats?

I'm pretty sure they don't limit tickets given some are "open" so you can catch any train.
The biggest issue you may have is that trains won't return to normal timetable straight away as the trains may not be in the right place/staff not working overnight etc
Have a look at the website for the train company you are travelling with and they should state the timetable limitations/changes, if they have come out yet. One thing I would say is the trains in the days before/after the strikes are usually busier as people with tickets to travel on the strike days will shift their travel to the nearest days.
If there's nothing you can do just try not to stress and do the best you can. I travel a fair bit by train and you get the odd arse but the majority of fellow travellers and staff will try to help someone who is polite and seeking help or support.

No option to reserve seats (I don't know of there was at time of booking but didn't think we needed to as we didn't know about strike then. We get this train semi regularly and it's usually pretty empty)

Good point about open returns.

It's a late morning train, so after 11am, and we leave from the first stop of the route so I'm hoping that means the train will actually be running. I can't even stand to think what we'll do if it's not.

Urgh.

You'll likely be ok mid morning and if you're first stop that is good. Do check the train operators website though for any time table revisions, and if you can reserve seats.
I got a train back in March when there were strikes, and it was Cheltenham races which the train passed through. I couldn't reserve a seat as all the bookable ones were already taken. Thought it was going to be horrific (I had a 1.5 hr journey) it was busy but lots of seats were reserved but for later in the journey so wasn't actually too bad in the end.

We are also travelling that day. There is further disruption due to industrial action actually on the day as well annoyingly: https://news.sky.com/story/amp/rail-disruption-expected-as-aslef-train-drivers-refuse-to-work-overtime-for-six-days-12913754

Are your tickets booked for a particular time train? If so as long as it is running you should be able to get onto it fine.

We're travelling into London that day from Kent. Our train company says they will publish their timetable on 13 July but we're hoping that they are running to their usual form on 'between strike' days, i.e possibly a later start and running until the last train. The further action announced by Aslef is a pain because that could impact but as far as I'm aware South Eastern have been running a full timetable this week in spite of the Aslef action so we're hoping this will be the case.

@NeedWineNow we're doing the reverse journey. London out to Kent 😅

Me and the kids would happily stand to be honest, we just need to get there.

Yes it's a specific train, it was £20 cheaper than an open return, which is what we usually book. Trust me to go cheap this once.