LARGE parts of Britain have no train services as rail workers in several unions walk out on the same day reports the BBC.

Football fans are being warned that last trains will depart before the final whistle of some matches due to rail strikes called for the next two Saturdays – with another strike also planned for Wednesday next week.

People travelling to London to take part in the London Marathon on Sunday 2 October could also be affected by the strikes which have a knock-on effect into the early part of the following day.

Members of the train drivers’ union ASLEF are striking on Saturday 1 and Wednesday 5 October.

RMT union members, including Greater Anglia’s conductors, train cleaners and station staff and Network Rail’s signallers and maintenance teams are striking on Saturdays 1 and 8 October.

Greater Anglia services will be severely disrupted, with the company only able to run a fraction of its services and no services at all running on regional or branch lines.

The company is advising people, including football fans and students going by train to school or college, to avoid travelling on its trains on strike days as services will be severely disrupted.

Football fans should make alternative arrangements because many matches will not finish before last trains have departed.

Teams playing on one or both of the next two Saturdays include all of East Anglia’s biggest teams: Norwich City, Ipswich Town, Cambridge United, Peterborough United and Colchester United, as well as Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham and Arsenal.

People travelling to London for the London Marathon on Sunday 2 October should check before they travel – as first trains to London will not start until 7/7.30am as a result of the 24-hour strike on Saturday.

On ASLEF strike days, Greater Anglia is unable to run any services from Cambridge to Liverpool Street, while on RMT strike days operating hours are restricted to 7.30am to 6.30pm due to Network Rail’s signallers also being on strike.

Services on each of the strike days are different, depending on which union is on strike.

Saturday 1 October – RMT and ASLEF

• No services between Cambridge and Liverpool Street or on regional/branch lines
• Reduced service of one train per hour between Norwich, Colchester and Southend Victoria and Liverpool Street and on Stansted Express service from 7.30am, with all last trains completing their journey by 6.30pm. 

Wednesday 5 October – ASLEF

• No services between Cambridge and Liverpool Street or on regional/branch lines
• Reduced service of one train per hour between Norwich, Colchester and Southend Victoria and Liverpool Street and on the Stansted Express (between Stansted Airport and Liverpool Street) but starting earlier and finishing later than on the other two strike days

Saturday 8 October – RMT

• No services on regional/branch lines
• Reduced service of one train per hour between Norwich, Colchester and Cambridge and Liverpool Street from 7.30am, with all last trains completing their journey by 6.30pm
• Reduced service of two trains per hour between Southend Victoria and Liverpool Street and on the Stansted Express from 7.30am, with all last trains completing their journey by 6.30pm

On Saturday 1 and Saturday 8 October, due to engineering work, there is a rail replacement bus service between Colchester and Ingatestone connecting with the heavily reduced train service.

There will be no rail replacement buses to replace trains not running due to the strike.

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director said: “We are very sorry that once again our customers will be disrupted by strikes, which this time will affect football fans and some people from our region competing in the London Marathon, as well as school or college students, commuters and business travellers.

“We’re only able to run a fraction of our usual services, so our advice again is to avoid using our trains on strike days.

“The rail industry is working hard to resolve these disputes and talks will continue with ASLEF and RMT in an effort to avert the strikes.”

Anyone who has pre-booked tickets to travel on strike days can change them, use them to travel on either the day before or up to two days later, or apply for a refund by going back to their original retailer.

Passenger assistance will be available as usual for all trains which are running. Anyone requiring assistance who cannot avoid travelling by train on strike days should plan their journey and book assistance in advance if possible.

Strike day timetables are now available for the strike on Saturday 1 October. Greater Anglia is currently finalising details of the other strike day timetables and will publish them on its website when are they are ready along with first and last train times.

Further information is available from greateranglia.co.uk/strikes and the company’s social media, which will be updated as details are finalised.

Other train companies affected by strikes on all days are Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry Trains, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, GWR, Northern Trains, Southeastern, Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Trains, Hull Trains and London Overground.

Network Rail, Southwestern and GTR – which includes Great Northern, Thameslink and the Gatwick Express – and will be affected by strikes on Saturday 1 October and Saturday 8 October.

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The leader of train drivers’ union Aslef told the BBC he was committed to talks, but a deal appeared far away.

Meanwhile, it is the second of two days of action by Royal Mail workers. The Communication Workers Union called it the “biggest strike of the year”.

It will be the first time the rail unions have walked out on the same day, and will involve about 54,000 members, so services will be more disrupted than on previous strike days.

Large parts of the network will grind to a complete halt with only about one in 10 services running, starting later and finishing earlier than usual.

Some operators including Northern, Avanti West Coast and Southeastern will not run any trains for the whole day.

The RMT union expects that more than 40,000 of its members who work at Network Rail and 16 train companies will not show up for work.

Joining them are 9,000 train drivers who are members of Aslef, working at 12 train companies. The Heathrow Express is also affected.

The TSSA also expects about 5,000 of its staff to walk out. A few hundred members of the Unite union have strike action scheduled too.

The Aslef union also plans a train drivers strike for 5 October, with another RMT walkout scheduled for 8 October.

Many who had planned journeys to the capital for the London Marathon are having to re-think their plans.

Those running the major charity fundraising event have to collect their event pack at ExCel London by the end of Saturday.

Most services on Sunday will start later than usual following Saturday’s disruption but London Marathon said Southeastern trains would get passengers to the start line on time.