Emergency timetables: just 20% of services set to run

Impending strike action was set to shut down around half of Britain’s rail network as this issue of RAIL went to press.

Despite deploying a contingency workforce of fully trained nonstriking and non-union back-up staff, Network Rail was forced to issue a limited timetable with only 20% of services running on June 21, 23 and 25.

Owing to a shortage of signallers, in particular, NR opted to focus its depleted resources on keeping main lines open to run a skeleton service between 0730-1830.

It meant that the last longdistance departures (for example, London-Edinburgh) left before 1500, while there were almost no services running within Wales, Scotland or Cornwall.

With no replacement bus services planned, all operators were advising passengers to travel only if strictly necessary on strike days. Further disruption was anticipated on non-strike days, due to the displacement of trains and shift patterns.

For example, Great Western Railway Managing Director Mark Hopwood told RAIL that the operator aimed to run one in three services on strike days and one in two on the days in between.

No trains were due to run west of Plymouth and only a handful of local Bristol services could operate. GWR aimed to get festival goers to Glastonbury via Swindon and Westbury to Castle Cary.

“We can run services on most, but not all, of our high-speed network,” said Hopwood.

“As far as Cardiff and down to Exeter and Plymouth, as well as services from Oxford. And a number of the branch lines in the Thames Valley will run as well Henley and Marlow. Though on restricted hours.”

South Western Railway, which normally runs 1,600 services a day to 300 stations, could only run strike-day trains on two lines, with two trains an hour between Southampton and London Waterloo and a reduced service on the Windsor line via Hounslow.

There were no services at all from Weymouth, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Salisbury or Reading to London Waterloo.

At the regional control centre in Basingstoke, Network Rail

Wessex Route Director Mark Killick explained: “Across the Southern region of Network Rail, we have trained up more than 250 people to step in during strike action.

“But we simply cannot run all the lines, even with those people trained, so we have to prioritise which routes we can open.”

RMT members on Govia Thameslink Railway voted for action short of a strike, but not for strikes. Therefore, they were to come to work on strike days.

However, action taken by signallers ensured the impact was similar to elsewhere.

The Brighton Main Line was to stay open with a limited service, while there was a restricted service on south London metro routes. There were no trains through West Sussex to Chichester, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis or Horsham.

North of London, Thameslink and Great Northern services were more frequent, with trains to Cambridge, Peterborough, Bedford, Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage.

Chris Fowler, customer services director for the Southern and Gatwick Express brands, said: “Our staff are here, ready and willing to help people who are trying to travel by train. But unfortunately, NR staff are on strike. We are only able to run where the tracks are given to us.”

The tiny 8½-mile Isle of Wight line was expected to be the only route in England to have a full service on strike days, after 30 RMT members on the island voted against any form of strike action. SWR operates both track and trains between Ryde and Shanklin, including signalling.

Although the national strike did not involve ScotRail staff, the operator said it could run just five routes in the Central Belt as NR was unable to open any other signal boxes on strike days.

The same issue was faced by Transport for Wales, which is not in dispute with the RMT, but which was unable to operate any services on strike days that run over NR infrastructure.

A reduced service was to run on the Core Valleys lines north of Radyr in south Wales, which are owned and operated by TfW.

Passengers unable to travel due to strike action are entitled to a full refund on pre-booked tickets.