Planned Tube strikes affect Great Northern trains

Next week’s planned Tube strikes will lead to the closure of five London stations on Great Northern’s Northern City Line, from Drayton Park to Moorgate, because some are operated by London Underground.

On Tuesday and Thursday next week (1 and 3 March), Great Northern trains will be diverted at Finsbury Park into King’s Cross and won’t be able to serve the stations of Drayton Park, Highbury & Islington, Essex Road, Old Street and Moorgate. Some may operate only north of Finsbury Park.

Southern, Great Northern and Thameslink trains around London are also likely to be much busier than usual and journeys may take much longer generally.

Passengers should check before they travel online at National Rail Enquiries. Changes may not appear until the day before travel.

As announced last week (see timetable press release) train times will also change across the three train companies on Monday 28 February, following a week of major engineering work on the Brighton mainline. These changes will be in place until May with more direct services to London Victoria during the peak and extra space on many trains to the capital.

Angie Doll, Interim Chief Operating Officer for Govia Thameslink Railway which operates Southern, Great Northern and Thameslink, said: “We’re reminding our customers to check before they travel next week. We are expecting the Tube strikes to make our services in and around London much busier as people seek other ways to get around the city.

“We are also changing our timetables to bring in more services to places like Victoria, with extra capacity for passengers travelling into London.”

For more information, passengers should visit www.greatnorthernrail.com, www.thameslinkrailway.com, www.southernrailway.com  and www.tfl.gov.uk/tube-strike.

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Editor’s notes

Some Great Northern trains may not be able to travel further south than Finsbury Park due to capacity constraints at King’s Cross.

Essex Road and Drayton Park are managed by Great Northern but, for operational reasons, trains cannot serve them if the other stations on the route, managed by London Underground, are closed.

Although Great Northern has staff on its platforms at Moorgate, Old Street and Highbury & Islington stations, entrances, exits and safety and security processes are managed by London Underground staff.