The RMT union has announced that further industrial action will take place on Saturday 1 and Saturday 8 October. The effect of this will be very similar to the strike action that took place over the summer. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) are advising customers to only travel by rail if their journey is absolutely essential.
Services at Billingshurst, Christ's Hospital, Faygate, Horsham, Littlehaven and Warnham stations will not be operating on either Saturday. Services at Balcombe will be reduced to two trains per hour in either direction on Saturday 8 October. Buses will replace trains at Balcombe (between Three Bridges and Brighton) on Saturday 1 October due to engineering works.
I am afraid services on Sunday 2 and Sunday 9 October will also be disrupted as RMT members will not work overnight shifts that begin on strike days. The first trains on all routes will be after 07:15, in some cases significantly later.
Separately, ASLEF – the train drivers’ union – is planning strike action on Saturday 1 and Wednesday 5 October. GTR drivers are not striking but companies near and on the GTR network are affected; there will be no service on London Overground or Southeastern and services will be extremely limited on LNER and Greater Anglia.
Up to date travel information is available here: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/.
Further information on the industrial action, including ticket exchanges and refunds, can be found here: https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/industrial-action.
Please see the below file for GTR's diagram of services running on 1 and 8 October.
