Essex rail passengers to face delays and train cancellations as …

Fresh strikes and an overtime ban by train drivers are set to cause havoc for passengers in Essex in December. Some train operators will not run any services and there will be short notice cancellations because of the industrial action as part of a long-running pay dispute. c2c and Greater Anglia in Essex are two of the operators that will be impacted by the strikes.

Members of the drivers’ union Aslef will stage a series of one-day strikes across different train operators between December 2 (Saturday) and 8, as well as an overtime ban across all train companies from December 1 to 9. Revised timetables are being prepared and should be available by November 30.

Regarding c2c, which serves the south of Essex between Shoebury and London Fenchurch Street, the operator has said it’s working out the level of service it can run on Sunday (December 3). But on December 1, 4, 6, 7 and 8, it said a reduced peak time service will be available with two trains per hour off peak on all routes. The first and last trains of the day will not be affected.

On December 2, 3 and 9, c2c trains will be “severely reduced”, with no service at all taking place on December 5. Rob Mullen, c2c Managing Director, said: “I’m really disappointed that an agreement with ASLEF hasn’t been reached. The impact of this ongoing action is significant for our customers and colleagues. I’m hopeful that further meetings with the unions are productive and see progress made toward concluding this challenging time for the railway.”

For the rest of Essex, Greater Anglia (GA) have advised that between December 1 and 4 there will be “some cancellations” due to the industrial action, and have advised passengers check their webpage ^[3] on the strikes for the latest information. On the day of strikes on December 5, the following changes are planned for GA trains:

Reduced service between Norwich and London Liverpool Street; Colchester and London Liverpool Street; and between Southend Victoria and London Liverpool Street.
First trains of the day start later and last trains finish earlier than normal.
No services running on other lines, including regional/branch lines

Wednesday December 6 should see a relatively normal timetable, though trains will start later due to the strike action the day before. From December 7 to 9, most services will be running with some cancellations.

A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group said: “This unnecessary and avoidable industrial action called by the Aslef leadership has been targeted to disrupt customers and businesses ahead of the vital festive period, where people will be attending events and catching up with friends and loved ones.

“It will also inflict further damage on an industry that is receiving up to an additional £175 million a month in taxpayer cash to keep services running, following the Covid downturn.

“As the level of service varies across the country, our advice is to check before you travel and follow the latest travel information. Customers with Advance, Anytime or Off-Peak tickets for travel between Saturday 2 December – Friday 8 December can instead use their tickets any time between Friday 1 December up until Tuesday 12 December. Those with Advance tickets can be refunded fee-free if the train that the ticket is booked for is cancelled, delayed, or rescheduled.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. The Aslef leadership are blocking a fair and affordable offer made by the industry in the Spring that would take average driver base salaries for a four-day week from £60,000 to nearly £65,000. We urge them to put it to its members, give Christmas back to our customers and end this damaging industrial dispute.”

References

^{^} Road closure causes lengthy bus diversion that could impact Essex school pupils (www.essexlive.news)
^{^} Photos show final preparations at ‘flagship’ The Range store in Chelmsford city centre (photos%20show%20final%20preparations%20at%20’flagship’%20the%20range%20store%20in%20chelmsford%20city%20centre)
^{^} check their webpage (www.greateranglia.co.uk)