Christmas train strikes: Dates for December and January rail disruption and all the lines affected

Train passengers face disruption across the festive period with railway workers set to stage a series of 48-hour strikes in the long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.

More than 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) across Network Rail and 14 train operating companies will strike.

The dates are:

13th December

14th December

16th December

17th December

3rd January

4th January

6th January

7th January

There will also be an overtime ban across the railways from 18 December until 2 January, which means RMT will be taking industrial action across four weeks.

Many operators are still assessing the potential impact of the industrial action and will then provide more details to passengers.

It comes after a long period of action and as some operators, such as West Midlands Railway and Southeastern, prepare to introduce “easier to understand” timetables on 11 December, with some significant changes for some routes.

Which operators have given updates on the December and January strikes?

Not all train companies have provided information on how their services will be affected, but these are the ones that have:

Great Western Railway

GWR has warned its passengers to only travel by train if “absolutely necessary”. A reduced timetable will be in operation and many routes will have no services at all. Travellers should expect any trains which are able to run to be “extremely busy”. More details about the impact of the festive strikes “will be provided in due course”.

Avanti West Coast

The company is still assessing how the December and January strike action will impact its services and will have “more information for you soon”.

East Midlands Railway

EMR has said it is “working to identify” how the strikes will impact its timetables.

LNER

More information about the impact on services will be provided when available.

Greater Anglia

The operator hopes industrial action can be avoided, but warns passengers should “avoid travelling with us” on strike days and urges people to check for updates before travelling.

Other train operators expected to provide updates

Disruption will be faced by travellers throughout the country if the strikes take place, with further updates expected to be given from these operators:

Cross Country Trains

Transpennine Express

Chiltern Railways

c2c

GTR (including Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and Gatwick Express)

Northern

Southeastern

West Midlands Railway

South Western

Rail passengers are also being warned of severe disruption across the network this Saturday when members of the train drivers’ union, Aslef, go on strike.