No trains to or from Brighton station on Saturday 5 August

• Difficult decision taken following ASLEF overtime ban announcement on 17 July
• Biggest event on GTR’s network requires significant extra capacity every year, which won’t be available to safely run services on Saturday 5 August
• Safety must come first, with several options considered and discussions taking place with the council, police and emergency services to help inform this decision
• “GTR has an extremely long-standing relationship with Pride and we are bitterly disappointed to make this unbelievably difficult decision.”

It is with a heavy heart that Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) announces that due to serious safety concerns, no trains will run to and from Brighton station on Saturday 5 August. This has been an extremely difficult decision to make due to the major impact it will have on everyone planning to attend Pride, which GTR has proudly supported for many years.

Unfortunately, between 31 July and 5 August, train operators have been notified of an overtime ban by the ASLEF union. In this period, GTR will be running an amended timetable with far fewer services than usual. As a result, there will be significantly less capacity than is required for people to travel safely on the busiest day of Pride – Saturday 5 August. Friday 4 and Sunday 6 August will have services.

Every year, GTR runs a significantly enhanced service for Pride with additional late-night trains on Saturday evening. These enhancements are needed to safely transport the huge number of people that travel into Brighton during Pride’s busiest day but also home again after the popular Saturday community parade and Fabuloso fundraiser in Preston Park.

In normal times, these extra services are covered by drivers volunteering for overtime and without the additional late-night services we need, there is a clear risk of stranding tens of thousands of people overnight without accommodation. On Saturday evening there is always a massive demand for return travel over a short period of time, with a capacity shortfall of 20,000 passengers expected in the busiest hours of the evening alone.

Keeping passengers and colleagues safe is the absolute priority and following discussions with the council, police and emergency services, as well as our own risk assessments, GTR has very sadly concluded that it cannot safely run any services as it would be impossible to avoid severe overcrowding and present a considerable risk to passenger safety.

This means passengers will not be able to use rail services to get into or out of Brighton on Saturday 5 August and anyone planning to attend Pride on this day will unfortunately need to make alternative arrangements. Friday 4 August and Sunday 6 August are unaffected.

Chris Fowler, Network Operations and Performance Director, GTR, said: “GTR has an extremely long-standing relationship with Pride and we are bitterly disappointed to make this unbelievably difficult decision. We know this will be incredibly frustrating and we’re really sorry to everyone who will be impacted, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community.

“After exploring all possible options, and following discussions with the police, emergency services and local council, we simply cannot run a safe service with enough capacity for the extraordinary number of passengers that travel to Brighton for Pride. We can’t in good faith bring people into Brighton that cannot get home again, potentially leaving thousands of people stranded – safety must come first.

“We hope by making this decision now it will allow people time to plan other options and we hope to be back supporting Pride with full services for the whole weekend next year.”

Travel information for Saturday 5 August

There will be no trains in or out of Brighton station on Saturday 5 August and the station will be closed all day. Trains on the Brighton mainline will instead terminate at Three Bridges, ensuring passengers can reach other major stations such as Gatwick Airport.

Stations between Three Bridges and Brighton will not be served all day. Trains will also not run along the southern coastways into Brighton because of the amended timetable due that will be in place.

More widely, across the GTR network, an amended timetable with fewer services will run because of the industrial action. Services will start later and finish earlier in some areas. Services will be busier than usual and queues are likely. Passengers are advised to check their first and last trains carefully, as there will be no alternative travel outside of these services.

Journey planners for Monday 31 July to Friday 4 August are now live, and for Saturday 5 August they will be updated on Monday 31 July.

For further information, please visit the dedicated Pride page on our website: Brighton Pride (southernrailway.com).

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• Friday 4 August and Sunday 6 August are unaffected, and services will run to Brighton as planned. This is because demand is not as high on these days and there is no overtime ban in place on the Sunday.
• If services ran on the current amended timetable on Saturday 5 August, GTR would have a capacity shortfall of 85,000 passengers across the whole day with 20,000 of this shortfall occurring in the busiest travel period after 2100. This means there would be a serious risk of a large number of people not being able to get home if they travel into Brighton.
• If the ASLEF overtime ban is called off, unfortunately services cannot be immediately restored to the normal timetable. Rail services are created and depend on complex and integrated systems. It therefore takes some time to get everything back into place. If this is the case, more details will follow.