Plan train journeys in advance and only travel if absolutely necessary

• Extremely limited Southeastern train service on December 13^th/14^th, 16^th/17^th and January 3^rd and 4^th because of 48-hour strike action
• Passengers who must travel should expect disruption, plan ahead and check when their last train will depart.
• On non-strike days related industrial action by RMT members means that there may be disruption
• Special timetables for strike and the following days will start being published on journey planners on Friday 9^th December, with trains starting later and finishing much earlier than usual, between 7.30am and 6.30pm
• The planned timetable change on December 11^th will also change the times of all Southeastern trains on non-strike days – customers are asked to check their journey at southeasternrailway.co.uk

Southeastern will only be able to run an extremely limited train service during the planned strike action by RMT members on a number of dates in December and January, with an overtime ban and a ban on rest-day working also causing disruption between December 18^th and January 7^th.

On December 13^th, 14^th, 16^th and 17th and January 3^rd and 4^th, there will be no trains running between Hastings, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks.

The Medway Valley Line and the Sheerness line will be closed and there will be no Highspeed trains beyond Ashford.

There will be no train service in East Kent, including to or from Canterbury, Dover, Faversham, Folkestone. Margate, and Ramsgate.

The Grove Park-Bromley North line will also be closed.

There will be a limited number of trains running only:

• on the routes between London Bridge and Dartford via the Woolwich, Bexleyheath and Sidcup lines
• the route between London Bridge and Sevenoaks
• the Highspeed service between London St Pancras and Ashford International.

On the routes that do operate, trains will only operate between 7am and 7pm, so Southeastern urges all customers to check train timetables if they have to travel.

Scott Brightwell, Southeastern Operations and Safety Director, said:

“We are very sorry for the impact that this will have on people’s lives over the festive season. We will run as many services as we can during December and early January. But if strikes and other industrial action does go ahead, it’ll mean a sustained period of disruption. And, if strikes don’t go ahead, it will still mean disruption that will affect our customers.

“On strike days, some routes will have a very limited service, and there will be no trains at all in some places. Where trains are able to run, it will be for a limited time only between 7am and 7pm only each day.

“Our entire timetable is changing on December 11^th as well, and we want our customers to be as prepared as possible for any changes to their journeys. We recognise the inconvenience this causes and offer our sincere apologies.”

Southeastern understands the need to keep its customers informed and the most up to date information is available on their dedicated strike page, with new timetables that will be in effect from December 11^th also available on the website and on journey planners:

www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/strike-action

www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/december-timetable 

The page also provides information on how to claim a refund for those customers who have already bought a ticket.

Ticketing and refunds

Customers with Advance, Anytime or Off-Peak tickets for travel on a strike day can instead use their ticket on an alternative date:

• Tickets for 13, 14, 16, 17 December can instead be used the day before the date on the ticket, or up to and including Tuesday 20^thDecember
• Tickets for 24, 25, 26, 27 December can instead be used the day before the date on the ticket, or up to and including Thursday 29 December
• Tickets for 3, 4, 6, 7 January can instead be used the day before the date on the ticket, or up to and including Tuesday 10^thJanuary

Customers with Advance tickets can get a fee-free refund if the train that the ticket is booked for is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled.

If the Advance ticket is for a train that is scheduled for a strike day, is not cancelled, delayed or rescheduled, but a customer prefers not to travel, they should contact us through our website.

Customers with two portions of an Advance ticket (an outbound and a return), to be used as a return journey, may be able to get a fee-free refund or change of journey for any unused legs/tickets, if one (either) of the legs is scheduled for a strike day. Customers should check with their ticket retailer.

Customers can also check on National Rail Enquiries or the Southeastern website to see how train services are affected by this industrial action.