Train strikes: Full list of October 2023 dates and rail lines affected as Tube action called off
Thousands of rail workers and train drivers are going on strike this month – with an overtime ban which started on Monday and mass disruption expected today.
But planned industrial action by London Underground workers has been cancelled, it was announced on Tuesday.
RMT (the Rail, Maritime and Transport union) and ASLEF (The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen) members are striking in an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.
ASLEF represents drivers, whereas the RMT represents workers from many different sectors of the rail industry – including station staff and guards.
Here is everything you need to know about which services are affected this week.
London Underground
Tube workers had been planning to walk out on Wednesday 4 October and Friday 6 October.
The industrial action would have “severely affected” most underground lines and there would have been no night tube on 6 October, either.
But on Tuesday unions announced the planned strikes have been called off.
Around 3,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) had been due to walk out during the two days of strikes.
The RMT said that following talks at the conciliation service Acas it has managed to save jobs, prevent detrimental changes to rosters and secure protection of earnings around grading changes.
The union said: “The significant progress means that key elements have been settled although there remains wider negotiations to be had in the job, pensions and working agreements dispute.”
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “I congratulate all our members who were prepared to take strike action and our negotiations team for securing this victory in our Tube dispute.
“Without the unity and industrial power of our members, there is no way we would have been able to make the progress we have.”
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast will not be operating any services on Wednesday 4 October.
Customers who booked tickets to travel on these days can claim a full, fee-free refund from their point of purchase.
Customers with pre-booked tickets for travel on a strike day can use their ticket the day before or the two days after.
Avanti plans to run its normal timetable during overtime bans, but recommends you check before you travel as the impact will vary from route to route.
C2C
There will be no C2C service on Wednesday 4 October.
On days when overtime bans are in place, there will be a reduced peak time service and a reduced frequency of two trains per hour during off-peak hours across all routes.
First and last trains will be unaffected.
Chiltern Railways
There will be no Chiltern Railways services on Wednesday 4 October on any routes.
Although industrial action on the London Underground has been suspended, there will be impacts on Chiltern Railways services at the London end of the route.
On 5 and 6 October no services will be calling at stations including; Harrow-on-the-Hill, Rickmansworth, Chorleywood, Chalfont & Latimer and Amersham. This is until after 8am on Thursday and all day on Friday.
On Saturday 7 October, no Chiltern Railways services will call at South Ruislip until after 8am.
Chiltern Railways will be running an amended timetable during the week of overtime bans, which travellers can check here.
CrossCountry
There will be no CrossCountry services on Wednesday 4 October.
Some services will be amended during overtime ban dates. You can view the list of trains affected on each day here.
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East Midlands Railway
There will be no East Midlands Railway service on Wednesday 4 October.
East Midlands says its journey planners have now been updated for days where an overtime ban is in place. Check here for updates.
GTR
GTR, also known as Govia Thameslink Railway, is the UK’s biggest railway franchise and operates Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express.
It says there will be no Thameslink, Great Northern or Gatwick Express services operating on Wednesday 4 October.
A limited Southern shuttle service will run, calling at Gatwick Airport and London Victoria only.
Services on Thursday 5 October will begin much later than normal in the aftermath of the strike the day before, with some routes having no services before 7am.
On days when an overtime ban is in place, GTR says an amended timetable with fewer services will run.
The usual non-stop Gatwick Express service between London Victoria, Gatwick Airport and Brighton will not run.
To help customers, extra stops at Clapham Junction and East Croydon have been added, so these trains will be operating as Southern services.
Gatwick Express tickets will be valid on Southern and Thameslink at no additional cost.
Find out more about each of GTR’s lines by clicking on their names at the top of this section.
Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway (GWR) will be operating a reduced and revised timetable on Wednesday 4 October.
Many parts of the network will have no service at all. Services that go ahead will start from 7.30am and all journeys must be completed by 6.30pm.
GWR says there are likely to be short-notice alterations or cancellations to its services on days when overtime bans are in place.
You can check GWR’s website for updates nearer the time.
Greater Anglia and Stansted Express
Reduced services are expected to run on both strike and overtime ban days.
You can click here to see what plans are in place on all affected dates.
Heathrow Express
On the strike day of 4 October, there will be fewer trains going to Heathrow Airport and they will start later and finish earlier.
Trains will run between Paddington and Heathrow between 7.40am and 6.25pm.
Services between Terminal 5 and Paddington will run between 7.42am and 6.57pm.
And there will be trains between 7.47am and 7.02pm from Heathrow Central into Paddington.
The Elizabeth Line will service customers travelling from London to Heathrow.
Heathrow has not announced any changes during overtime bans. Click here for more information about its services.
LNER
LNER services will run on an “extremely limited timetable” during 4 October, with minor alterations on days before and after them.
You can find more details here.
London Northwestern Railway
There will be no London Northwestern Railway (LNR) service on Wednesday 4 October.
It will have buses in place of trains between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey on days when there are overtime bans.
You’ll be able to see what impact the overtime ban will have on LNR via journey planners.
Northern
There will be no Northern service in operation on Wednesday 4 October, and no rail replacement bus services.
Days affected by overtime bans are likely to cause some short-notice alterations or cancellations. You can check here for updates.
Southwestern Railway
An extremely limited service will operate on a small number of lines during strike days, and most of the Southwestern Railway mainland network will be closed. There will be no service on the Island Line.
Customers are advised to only travel if absolutely necessary.
Reduced services will operate across the mainland South Western Railway network on overtime ban days, with an hourly service on the Island Line.
Find out more here.
Southeastern
There will be no Southeastern service in operation on any routes on strike days.
Southeastern expects to run a full service during overtime ban periods.
TransPennine
No TransPennine Express service will run on any route during the strike on Wednesday 4 October.
There will also be some early morning and late evening alterations on the days before or after a strike day.
TransPennine Express plans to run its normal timetable during overtime ban days but warns there could be significant disruption to your journey, so be sure to check before you travel.
West Midlands Railway
There will be no West Midlands Railway service on Wednesday 4 October.
On days when the overtime ban is in place, reduced train services will operate between Birmingham New Street and Hereford and Birmingham New Street and Shrewsbury – and a bus service will replace trains between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa via Coventry.
The overtime bans may lead to amended timetables and on-the-day cancellations, particularly if there is disruption to services, so check before you travel.
How you can remain up-to-date
You can tap any of the links provided above to check for updates on specific lines.
National Rail urges anyone hoping to travel on strike and overtime ban days to use its Journey Planner to keep an eye on how services will be affected.
Any journey accompanied by a yellow warning triangle means the information is still subject to change.
Most journeys should now be up to date on the planner.
As a ban on the sale of disposable vapes comes into force on Sunday, a doctor who set up the first-ever clinic to help children stop vaping has said she has seen patients so addicted they couldn’t sleep through the night without them.
Professor Rachel Isba established the clinic at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool in January and has now seen several patients as young as 11 years old who are nicotine dependent.
“Some of the young people vape before they get out of bed. They are sleeping with them under their pillow,” she told Sky News.
Professor Rachel Isba set up the first-ever stop vaping clinic for children
“I’m hearing stories of some children waking up at three o’clock in the morning, thinking they can’t sleep, thinking the vape will help them get back to sleep. Whereas, actually, that’s the complete opposite of how nicotine works.”
Ms Isba said most of her patients use disposable vapes, and while some young people may use the chance to give up, others will simply move to refillable devices after the ban.
“To me, vaping feels quite a lot like the beginning of smoking. I’m not surprised, but disappointed on behalf of the children that history has repeated itself.”
A government ban on single-use vapes comes into effect from Sunday, prohibiting the sale of disposable vaping products across the UK, both online and in-store, whether or not they contain nicotine.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said usage among young vapers remained too high, and the ban would “put an end to their alarming rise in school playgrounds and the avalanche of rubbish flooding the nation’s streets”.
Pic: PA
Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said: “For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine. That ends today. The government calls time on these nasty devices.”
At nearby Shrewsbury House Youth Club in Everton, a group of 11 and 12-year-old girls said vape addiction is already rife among their friends.
Yasmin Dumbell said: “Every day we go out, and at least someone has a vape. I know people who started in year five. It’s constantly in their hand.”
Yasmin Dumbell says she knows students who started vaping in year five
Her friend Una Quayle said metal detectors were installed at her school to try to stop pupils bringing in vapes, and they are having special assemblies about the dangers of the devices.
But, she said, students “find ways to get around the scanners though – they hide them in their shorts and go to the bathroom and do it”.
Una Quayle says metal detectors installed at her school won’t stop students using vapes
The girls said the ban on disposables is unlikely to make a difference for their friends who are already addicted.
According to Una, they’ll “find a way to get nicotine into their system”.
As well as trying to address the rise in young people vaping, the government hopes banning single-use vapes will reduce some of the environmental impact the devices have.
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Although all vapes can be recycled, only a tiny proportion are – with around eight million a week ending up in the bin or on the floor.
Pulled apart by hand
Even those that are recycled have to be pulled apart by hand, as there is currently no way to automate the process.
Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, a recycling non-profit group, said vapes were “some of the most environmentally wasteful, damaging, dangerous consumer products ever sold”.
His organisation worries that with new, legal models being designed to almost exactly mimic disposables in look and feel – and being sold for a similar price – people will just keep throwing them away.
He said the behaviour “is too ingrained. The general public have been told ‘vapes are disposable’. They’ve even been marketed this way. But they never were disposable”.
A ban on disposable vapes comes into force on Sunday, with a warning issued about the “life-threatening dangers” of stockpiling.
From Sunday it will be illegal for any business to sell or supply, or have in their possession for sale, all single-use or disposable vapes.
Online nicotine retailer Haypp said 82% of the 369 customers they surveyed plan to bulk purchase the vapes before they are no longer available.
But the vapes contain lithium batteries and could catch fire if not stored correctly.
A sign for customers at a Tesco store in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. Pic: PA
While more than a third (34%) of people surveyed by Haypp said they would consider buying an illegal vape after the ban, the overall number of people using disposable products has fallen from 30% to to 24% of vapers, according to Action on Smoking and Health.
Shops selling vapes are required to offer a “take back” service, where they accept vapes and vape parts that customers return for recycling – including single use products.
Read more: Everything you need to know about the ban
The Local Government Association (LGA) led the call for a ban two years ago, due to environmental and wellbeing concerns, and is warning people not to stockpile.
Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Failing to store disposable vapes correctly could cost lives, given the significant fire risk they pose.”
How disposable vapes catch fire – or even explode
Figures obtained by the Electric Tobacconist, via Freedom of Information requests, found an increase in vape related fires – from 89 in 2020 to 399 in 2024.
Many disposable vapes use cheap, or even unregulated lithium-ion batteries, to keep the costs down. These batteries often lack proper safety features, like thermal cut offs, making them more prone to overheating and catching fire.
If the battery is damaged, or overheats in any way it can cause thermal runaway – a chain reaction where the battery’s temperature rapidly increases, causing it to overheat uncontrollably.
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Then, once these fires start start, they are very hard to stop. Water alone can make things worse if the battery is still generating heat, so they require specialised fire suppressants to put them out.
Batteries can then re-ignite hours, or even days later, making them a persistent hazard.
Disposable vapes are a hazard for waste and litter collection and cause fires in bin lorries, even though customers have been warned not to throw them away in household waste. They are almost impossible to recycle because they are designed as one unit so the batteries cannot be separated from plastic.
Some 8.2 million units were thrown away, or recycled incorrectly, every week prior to the ban.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said usage among young vapers remained too high, and the ban would “put an end to their alarming rise in school playgrounds and the avalanche of rubbish flooding the nation’s streets”.
Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said: “For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine. That ends today.
“The government calls time on these nasty devices.”
‘One in five say they will return to cigarettes’
Separate research by life insurance experts at Confused.com found two in five people (37%) planned to stop vaping when the ban starts.
Nearly one in five (19%) said they would return to cigarettes once the ban comes into force.
The research was based on the answers of 500 UK adults who currently vape.
Vaping and smoking also appears to be on the rise, with Confused.com saying there was a 44% increase in the number of people declaring they smoke or vape on their life insurance policy since 2019.
Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges as he appeared in court in London.
The British comedian and actor, from Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, was charged by post last month with one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape as well as two counts of sexual assault.
The charges relate to alleged incidents involving four separate women between 1999 and 2005.
The 49-year-old, who has been living in the US, was flanked by two officers as he pleaded not guilty to all the charges at Southwark Crown Court today.
Russell Brand appears at Southwark Crown Court. Pic: Reuters
Brand stood completely still and looked straight ahead as he delivered his pleas.
The comedian, who has consistently denied having non-consensual sex since allegations were first aired two years ago, is due to stand trial in June 2026.
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Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court on Friday
He previously told his 11.2 million followers on X that he welcomed the opportunity to prove his innocence.
The allegations were first made in a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches in September 2023.
As Friday’s hearing finished, Brand replaced his sunglasses before exiting the dock and calmly walking past reporters.
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