No late-night trains this Saturday on Thameslink and Great Northern routes north of London

• GTR apologises for impact on customers this Saturday
• An amended timetable is currently in place due to a national overtime ban by Aslef
• This continues on Saturday meaning no late-night trains on Thameslink and Great Northern routes north of London (e.g. Herts, Beds, Cambs and Norfolk)
• Advice to passengers is check every journey and don’t wait for last trains of the evening

An amended timetable has been in place this week across Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) services due to an overtime ban by Aslef, and unfortunately this will continue on Saturday 5 August.

Regrettably, most of the GTR network north of London will be operating a limited service, with trains making their final journeys at 10pm. Customers should complete their trips well in advance of this.

The last service from London King’s Cross to King’s Lynn is much earlier in the afternoon on Saturday, just before 4:30pm. People wishing to travel on this route should plan ahead.

Due to planned engineering work taking place by Network Rail, there will be a bus replacement service between Bowes Park and Watton-at-Stone.

To view open and closed routes for Saturday 5 August, please refer to this service map.

Chris Fowler, Network Operations and Performance Director at Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “We are very sorry to everyone that will be impacted by the service in place this Saturday. As with previous overtime bans, we can only run an amended timetable – and this means fewer services overall.

“We’re running as many trains as possible, but a limited service does mean we can’t run trains as late as we usually would on a Saturday. We completely understand how frustrating this is for our customers and we apologise if this disrupts your plans. Our advice is to check every journey this Saturday and don’t wait for those last trains of the day.”

Customers planning to travel to Brighton Pride this weekend will not be able to travel by train this Saturday. This is explained here. There will be trains running to the city on Friday 4 and Sunday 6 August.

Unfortunately, Aslef has announced a further ban on overtime from 7 – 12 August. Once again, GTR will be running an amended service with fewer trains overall. Customers should continue to check their journeys before setting off and leave as much time as possible to complete their trips.

To find out more about the impact of the national overtime ban, visit the Thameslink or Great Northern websites.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• The non-stop Gatwick Express service from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport will not be running during the overtime ban period, but the airport will be served by Thameslink and Southern trains
• Journey planners are live now. To check your journey, visit: https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search