Rail strikes in January and February 2024

Rail staff have announced a new round of strikes to take place between Tuesday 30 January and Monday 5 February 2024 as part of a long-running dispute.  

Different train companies will be affected on different days – please do check with your rail networks to get the latest updates and information. Drivers’ strikes have been announced as follows, with disruption expected on, and around, the following days on the following services: 

• Tuesday 30 January: Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Thameslink, South Western Railway and SWR Island Line 
• Wednesday 31 January: Northern Trains, Transpennine Express 
• Friday 2 February: Greater Anglia, C2C, LNER 
• Saturday 3 February: West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway 
• Monday 5 February: Great Western, CrossCountry, Chiltern
• An additional five-day strike annouced by LNER (London North Eastern Railway) drivers from Monday 5 February until Friday 9 February has now been called off.

There are also various overtime bans in effect throughout the period 30 January–6 February, which could lead to additional disruption. Please check your local rail network information before you travel.

Travelling to campus 

If you are coming into campus, please be aware that your journey may be disrupted and allow extra time to get to your destination. You can visit Transport for London, National Rail or the Citymapper app, which might be useful for planning alternative types of transport such as bicycle and scooter hire, walking, buses etc. 

Please do keep following the news and the National Rail website for the latest updates. 

Advice for students 

It is possible that some of your teaching will have to be rescheduled or moved online if our staff are unable to travel or need to prioritise childcare responsibilities. 

UCL will make every attempt to keep activities running for students, with student-facing staff asked to come in to work where possible. If you are coming into campus please allow extra time to get to your destination and use the websites detailed above to plan your transport. 

Keep a close eye on your UCL emails and look out for Moodle page announcements. 

Advice for staff 

If you are unable to get to work using alternative transport, you should let your line manager know as soon as possible. If transport strikes affect your ability to come into campus, you are welcome to work from home on the affected days, if your job lends itself to home working. 

Staff unable to work from home can agree flexible solutions with managers such as using TOIL or making up lost time where possible. If alternative arrangements cannot be found, staff should arrange to take annual leave or unpaid leave, in line with our Special Leave policy on travel and weather disruption.