
Travelling today? Brace yourself. Britain won’t be getting anywhere fast as the next round of train strikes continue.
Thousands of staff that are part of the RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) Union will strike today (Saturday, March 18), following Wednesday’s walk-out by tube drivers and Thursday’s earlier RMT strike.
In early March, The RMT released a statement saying that the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) had invited them to fresh talks, but only on the basis that upcoming strikes be cancelled – as such, they had decided the industrial action would continue.
Strike action is also planned for March 30, as well as April 1 (though subject to change during negotiations).
So which train lines are affected today and will any trains run?
Which train lines are affected by the strikes today?
All of the companies affected by March 2023 train strikes
- Avanti West Coast
- Chiltern Railways
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Railway
- Gatwick Express
- Greater Anglia (including Stansted Express)
- Great Northern
- Great Western Railway
- LNER
- London Northwestern Railway
- Northern
- Southern
- Southeastern
- South Western Railway
- Thameslink
- TransPennine Express
- West Midlands Railway
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast has advised customers to ‘check before they travel’ as their timetables ‘will change significantly’ due to fewer trains running on strike days.
One train per hour will run in both directions between Euston and each of Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Preston.
A limited service will operate to and from Glasgow.
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways will also be running a ‘very limited service’ today.
No trains will run north of Banbury.
There will be one train per hour in both directions between London Marylebone and each of Aylesbury/Aylesbury Vale Parkway, Banbury and Oxford.
CrossCountry
No direct services will run to and from Birmingham New Street and locations such as Cambridge, Cardiff, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth and Stansted Airport.
East Midlands Railway
The EMR advises to only travel is absolutely necessary.
Just one train per hour will run in each direction between Leicester and each of Lincoln, Nottingham and Sheffield, and between London St Pancras and both Kettering and Corby.
Gatwick Express
There will be no services but Southern will run trains between Gatwick Airport and London Bridge.
They advise customers to check before they travel.

There will also be disruption on Saturday, with engineering works also planned, meaning ‘no Southern or Gatwick Express trains to London Victoria.’
Great Western Railway
Many parts of the GWR network will have no service at all, with a reduced service operating on a limited number of routes.
Trains will run between London Paddington and each of Bristol Parkway, Cardiff, Exeter via Bristol Temple Meads, Newbury and Oxford.
The only other routes open will be between West Ealing and Greenford, Slough and Windsor, Maidenhead and Marlow, Twyford and Henley, Reading and Basingstoke, Cardiff and Westbury, and Plymouth and Newton Abbot.
Greater Anglia
Greater Anglia will have a reduced frequency, but many lines will have a near-to-normal service.
As always, it’s best to check online before travelling.
Great Northern
Great Northern is warning customers to check immediately before they travel, as they ‘will operate limited opening hours with services starting later and finishing much earlier than normal.’
There will be very few trains, with no services east of Ely to King’s Lynn.
London North Eastern Railway (LNER)
LNER will run a reduced timetable.
This includes the London King’s Cross-Edinburgh route having a total of just 16 trains across both directions.
Northern Rail
Northern Rail will be operating very limited services on strike days, and has warned that some stations can expect no trains at all.
Trains will only run between Leeds and each of York, Hebden Bridge, Ilkley, Skipton, Sheffield and Bradford Forster Square, and between Darlington and Saltburn, and Liverpool and Manchester Airport.
SouthEastern
SouthEastern has advised to expect the majority of their network to be shut down.
No trains will run on the vast majority of the network in Kent and East Sussex.
There will be two trains per hour in each direction for most of Saturday on these lines: Bexleyheath, Bromley North, Bromley South, Sidcup and Woolwich.
On the high speed line there will be two trains per hour to and from Ashford International and four per hour to and from Ebbsfleet International.
On the Sevenoaks line there will be two trains per hour to and from Sevenoaks and four per hour to and from Orpington.

Southern
Southern rail has warned of a disrupted service.
There will be no Southern or Gatwick Express trains to London Victoria, due to engineering works.
South Western Railway
There will be a significantly reduced service and only between London Waterloo and both Hounslow and Woking, and between Basingstoke and Southampton, Guildford and Woking, and Salisbury and Basingstoke.
Thameslink
Services will be split north and south, with nothing running between London St Pancras and London Bridge.
TransPennine Express
TransPennine Express is telling customers to avoid travelling by train where possible on strike days.
A reduced timetable will operate and only on these routes: between Huddersfield and York, Manchester Airport and Preston, and Cleethorpes and Sheffield.

West Midlands Railway
West Midlands will be operating a limited timetable on the following routes: between Lichfield Trent Valley and Redditch/Bromsgrove via Birmingham New Street, and between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton via local stations.
MORE : When is the next teacher strike and why are they walking out?
MORE : Who’s on strike today and how will it affect you? Daily update for March 18
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