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.
The suspended surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge has been named as paediatric consultant Kuldeep Stohr.
Eight hundred patients operated on by Ms Stohr are having their cases urgently re-examined, after an external review found nine children whose care fell below expected standards.
The initial review was ordered after concerns were raised by her colleagues.
Sky News has seen a copy of the interim report which details several issues relating to complex hip surgeries performed by the surgeon.
One of the parents whose child was identified in the review showed us a recent letter from the hospital which reported “problems with both judgement and technique” in her child’s surgery.
Ms Stohr, who has been suspended since the end of January, said in a statement: “I always strive to provide the highest standards of care to all my patients.
“I am co-operating fully with the trust investigation and it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
Tammy Harrison: ‘It was hell’
Left in agonising pain
Tammy Harrison, 12, has cerebral palsy and had surgeries carried out by Ms Stohr. Her operations didn’t work, leaving her in agonising pain.
She said: “My first one was just like trauma. I couldn’t get out of bed for eight weeks. I was either stuck in bed or stuck on the sofa. It was hell.”
Her mum, Lynn, told Sky News: “There is nothing that can put Tammy back to where she was now and that’s the sad thing.
“If I could just click my fingers and have the child back that I had I would do it with a blink of an eye.”
Ms Stohr operated on Lynn Harrison’s daughter
So far, there’s been no confirmation of any wrongdoing in Tammy’s care.
But her family have a meeting at the hospital this week to find out more.
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The trust has asked a panel of specialist clinicians to review all the planned operations carried out by Ms Stohr at Addenbrooke’s. One hundred emergency trauma cases will also be looked at.
Addenbrooke’s is a major regional trauma centre and treats serious emergency patients from all over the region.
One clinician at the hospital told Sky News that the review of so many patients was “creating a lot of extra work”, which was “slowing things down” for other patients awaiting treatment.
Addenbrooke’s Hospital. File pic: PA
At least one extra locum consultant has been helping the team, as they work through the caseload.
Trust apologises
Sky News has been told Cambridge University Hospitals Trust had wanted to identify Ms Stohr before but had been threatened with a legal injunction.
The trust has apologised unreservedly to families and patients. But what’s troubling many is the fact concerns were raised about Ms Stohr a decade ago.
Chief executive of Cambridge University Hospitals Trust, Roland Sinker, has set up another review to examine whether opportunities were missed, and action could have been taken sooner.
The Department of Health described the ongoing situation as “incredibly concerning.”
Sir Keir Starmer promised “bold changes” as he announced he will relax rules around electric vehicles after carmakers were hit by Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The prime minister said “global trade is being transformed” after the US president‘s 25% levy on imported cars, and 10% tariff on other products, came into force.
Jaguar Land Rover has said the firm will “pause” shipments to the US as it looks to “address the new trading terms”.
Trump adviser explains why tariffs put on island inhabited only by penguins
Labour made a manifesto pledge to restore a 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars after it had been rolled back to 2035 by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government.
Starmer promises to ‘back British business’. Pic: Reuters
Sir Keir will officially confirm the ban in an announcement on Monday but regulations around manufacturing targets on electric cars and vans will be altered, to help firms in the transition.
Luxury supercar firms such as Aston Martin and McLaren will still be allowed to keep producing petrol cars beyond the 2030 date, because they only manufacture a small number of vehicles per year.
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‘Nothing off the table’ over tariffs
Petrol and diesel vans will also be allowed to be sold until 2035, along with hybrids and plug-in hybrid cars.
The government is also going to make it easier for manufacturers who do not comply with the government’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which sets sales targets, to avoid fines, and the levies will be reduced.
Sir Keir said: “I am determined to back British brilliance.
“Now more than ever UK businesses and working people need a government that steps up, not stands aside.
“That means action, not words.”
Officials have said support for the car industry will continue to be kept under review as the full impact of the tariffs announced last week becomes clear.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the industry deserves “clarity” in the economic context.
She said: “Our ambitious package of strengthening reforms will protect and create jobs, making the UK a global automotive leader in the switch to EVs, all the while meeting our core manifesto commitment to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.”
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Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said the government had “recognised the intense pressure manufacturers are under”, while Colin Walker, a transport analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said the ZEV mandate is a “global success story” in driving a surge in sales of electric vehicles.
It comes as KPMG warned US tariffs on UK exports could see GDP growth fall to 0.8% in 2025 and 2026.
The accountancy firm said higher tariffs on specific categories, such as cars, aluminium and steel, would more than offset the exemption on pharmaceutical exports, leaving the effective tariffs imposed on UK exports at around 12%.
Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said: “Given the economic impact that tariffs would cause, there is a strong incentive to seek a negotiated settlement that diminishes the need for tariffs. The UK automotive manufacturing sector is particularly exposed given the complex supply chains of some producers.”
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