May bank holiday travel: Rail customers urged to check journeys ahead of industrial action

There will be no trains across the majority of the Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern and Gatwick Express network on Tuesday, May 7.

The only trains that will be running will be very limited shuttles on the following routes:

• London Victoria – Gatwick Airport (Southern services)
• London St Pancras – Luton/Luton Airport Parkway (Thameslink services)
• London King’s Cross – Cambridge (Thameslink services)

In addition to May 7, there is a nationwide ban on overtime in place by ASLEF. This means that from Monday 6 until Saturday, May 11, there will be an amended timetable in place for all GTR services.

With engineering works taking place across the May bank holiday, followed by industrial action, GTR is advising customers to check their journeys for the entire period, starting from Saturday, May 4.

Jenny Saunders, customer services director at GTR, said: “With the bank holiday weekend fast approaching, we’re urging people to plan ahead because, regrettably, industrial action by the ASLEF union will impact train journeys.

“The majority of our services won’t be running on Tuesday, May 7, and this is in addition to planned engineering works during the bank holiday weekend, followed by an overtime ban from Monday, May 6.

“If you’re planning to travel by train next week, please check your journey online. We’re really sorry if the disruption will affect your plans.”

During the overtime ban period, GTR will be running an amended timetable with fewer services overall. This offers customers more certainty, with fewer on-the-day alterations. Trains running in the overtime ban will be much busier than usual, especially at peak times.

Customers planning to use GTR services between Monday, May 6 and Saturday, May 11 must check before travelling.

Gatwick Express will not operate on Wednesday 8, Thursday 9 and Friday, May 10, but passengers that must travel to Gatwick Airport by train can use Southern and Thameslink services.