Rail Strike

Last updated 22 March

Use this page to plan your journey around the rail strikes

We hope we can avert strike action and come to an agreement with the ASLEF union. We apologise for the inconvenience.

National strikes

ASLEF has announced rail strikes for the following days.

  • Friday 5 April - Avanti, CrossCountry, East Midlands, London Northwestern and West Midlands Railways
  • Saturday 6 April - LNER, Chiltern, Northern, Great Western, and TransPennine
  • Wednesday 31 January - Northern and TransPennine
  • Monday 8 April - Greater Anglia, Stansted Express, c2c, Great Northern, Gatwick Express, Southeastern, Southern, South Western Railway including Island Line and Thameslink

There will also be an overtime ban between Thursday 4 to Saturday 6 and Monday 8 to Tuesday 9 April. Train companies will be revising their timetables so remember to check your journey again nearer to the time.

Changes to Greater Anglia services

It's recommended you check your journey on our website or app 2-3 days before you travel as timetables will change nearer the time.

Most GA services will run on 4-6 April but there will be service alterations. Reduced service due to rail strike on 8 April. First services start later and other service alterations on 9 April.

Due to industrial action by members of the ASLEF trades union, Greater Anglia services will be affected by a strike on Monday 8 April.

Further details of what services will operate that day will be available nearer the time. However, it is likely that only limited services will be operating on a small number of key routes into London, with most routes seeing no services at all.

Please check your train using our journey planner or app 2-3 days before.

Our travel advice

  • Booking engines and apps are updated with the new timetables a few days before a strike so remember to check your full journey on all train company websites you're using, before deciding to travel.
  • If you're planning to attend events in the evening you may want to use alternative transport.
  • Be aware of engineering works.

Ticket options

Timetables are usually updated a few days before a rail strike so it's recommended that you confirm your train is running before buying a ticket.

  • If you purchased an Advance, Anytime or Off-Peak ticket before Wednesday 20 March 2024 and its dated for a strike day, you can use it to travel another day between Thursday 4 to Wednesday 10 April.
  • Journeys should be made at the closest possible time to the original booking
  • You'll need to buy a new London Underground ticket for its portion of your journey if travelling the day before or after.
  • We recommend checking for engineering works and avoiding the day before and after a strike day as trains could be busy
  • This doesn't apply for journeys with Caledonian Sleeper, Grand Central, Hull Trains or Lumo. Or if your full journey is with a train company that isnt affected by a strike day.

Seat reservations

We don't offer seat reservations but other train companies do. Your seat reservation won't apply if you travel on a different day so if you purchased online with us, you might be able to reserve a new seat by calling our Web Support Team on 0345 600 7245 (option 3). Or, visit one of our ticket offices.

How did you buy your ticket? How to change your ticket
Greater Anglia website or app
  • Go to my tickets in the app or log into your account online. There should be no admin fee for Greater Anglia routes, if you do see this, please wait and try changing your ticket later.
  • Call our Web Support Team on 0345 600 7245 (option 3). Open Monday to Sunday from 08:00 - 17:00.
  • Phone lines may be busy at the moment so if it’s more convenient, please email. Lines are open Monday to Sunday from 08:00 - 17:00 and an answer phone is available outside these times.
Greater Anglia ticket office
  • Go to any Greater Anglia ticket office with your ticket.
  • Use our journey planner to check the date you want to change your ticket to.

Other

  • Check at your point of purchase, or the retailer that you purchased your ticket through.

You can get a full refund on unused daily tickets. This applies when you decide not to travel because your intended service is cancelled, delayed, rescheduled or if your seat reservation will not be honoured.

If you have a return ticket and don't travel because of the strike, you can claim a full refund on unused tickets if your outbound or return journey is on a strike day.

How did you buy your ticket? How to claim a Daily ticket refund
Greater Anglia website or app
  • Refund your tickets on our app or by logging into your account. If you see an admin fee that shouldn't appear, please try refunding later.
  • If you checked out as a guest, you can call our Web Support Team on 0345 600 7245 (option 3). Open Monday to Sunday from 08:00 - 17:00.
  • If you're collecting your ticket at the ticket machine, you'll need to send your paper ticket to us as part of your claim so it's best to choose a digital collection option like e-tickets, digital season tickets or Smartcard when booking.
Greater Anglia station
  • Bring your ticket with you to any of our ticket offices
Other
  • Check at your point of purchase, or the retailer that you purchased your ticket through.

If you activated a Flexi Season pass, or are a monthly or longer Season ticket holder, you can claim a day back if your train operator is impacted by a full strike day, and don't travel because you're unable to, with Delay Repay.

Please select the 'Did Not Travel' option when filling in your claim. You'll just need to tell us the outward portion of your trip only (not return journey) to claim a full day of your ticket.

If your journey is delayed on the day after a strike day, you can claim Delay Repay compensation in the usual way.

Weekly Season Tickets and Travelcards that haven’t started yet can be refunded but a £10 admin fee may apply. It’s recommended you use the Season Ticket Calculator to make sure that a Weekly Season ticket is the best value during a period of industrial action, as compensation won’t be available unless your service is cancelled or delayed.

Assisted Travel

If you need assistance, please plan your journey in advance with Passenger Assist.

New bookings will be available for strike days when the timetable is confirmed.

If you’ve already booked assistance it may be affected by timetable changes due to strike action so you should check if your train is running before making your journey. We will endeavour to contact you to notify you if this is the case.

Are there going to be more strikes?

There are currently no strikes announced that will be affecting Greater Anglia services. It’s possible there will be more strikes. Unions have to give two weeks' notice of any further strike dates. We’ll share our travel advice for ones that will ll affect our trains on this page.

Got a question?

Get more information about rail strikes and your travel options on National Rail's website.