Face train travel hell with weekend strikes
High winds make conditions ideal for a windsurfer off the East Sussex coast
will run on Boxing Day. However, a fire at a substation near Ashford International station in Kent on Thursday night crippled sections of the network with cross-Channel Eurostar trains also affected.
And if many found yesterday was a nightmare day to travel, worse lies ahead. Boxing Day is now one of the busiest days in the festive calendar, as 6.8 million cars hit the roads.
The drone crisis at Gatwick also led to a spike in demand for other airports across the UK.
Winter sun lovers were said to be heading short-haul to Alicante and the Canary Islands while Dubai and
India were among the most popular long-haul destinations.
Travel trade organisation Abta says 4.7 million people will head abroad between December 18 to January 2, with yesterday the busiest day to travel.
For those opted instead for lastminute Christmas shopping, there was brisk business on the country’s high streets.
And on the will improve onwards.
Met Office forecaster Richard Miles said: “On Christmas Day, conditions will probably be OK for most places.” RAIL WORKERS at two companies are staging fresh strikes today in the long running dispute over guards on trains, causing travel misery for last-minute Christmas shoppers.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union on South Western Railway and Northern will walk out for 24 hours.
Picket lines will be mounted outside stations, while services in both operators will be reduced.
SWR said in a statement: “By targeting the last Saturday before Christmas the RMT is ensuring the maximum misery is inflicted.
“This action is totally unnecessary. We have guaranteed to roster a guard on every train, and we need more, not fewer guards – 70 more by May 2019. We have an opportunity with the introduction of the new suburban trains to operate these trains differently to maximise customer benefits.”
Northern said very few of its services will run after 5pm, with trains expected to be weather front things from the weekend “extremely busy”. Managing director David Brown said: “By the end of December, we will have had 19 consecutive Saturdays of RMT strike action.
“We have fantastic colleagues who have supported customers by keeping our trains running on each of the RMT strike days.
But he warned: “We expect all of our services, and those of other operators, to be extremely busy and are calling on our customers to plan their travel carefully and make sure they do not rely on the last trains home.”
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “RMT will not be party to the dilution of the safety culture on Northern Rail trains in a drive to prop up profits.
“Our members will be standing solid again for the 41st day in support of a safe and accessible railway for all.”
He thanked the public for “their understanding” throughout the dispute.