Rail passengers reminded to check before travelling during industrial action on Saturday 26 August

• Industrial action by RMT union will impact train services on 26 and morning of 27 August
• Fewer trains will run, with a late start and early finish on most routes, and no services in some locations
• Football fans travelling to Brighton urged to plan ahead and only travel by rail if necessary

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is urging customers intending to travel this Bank Holiday weekend to plan ahead and check their journeys before setting off, as national strike action by the RMT union will mean train services will be limited across the network on Saturday 26 August.

On most routes, first trains will be later and last trains much earlier than normal. Services will also start late on the following morning, Sunday 27 August.

The Gatwick Express will not run on Saturday 26 August, but Gatwick Airport will still be served by Thameslink and Southern trains.

Unfortunately, services are likely to be busy, which means customers might have to queue - especially if attending major events - and might not be able to board their first choice of train.

As trains will finish much earlier than usual, football fans travelling to Brighton to watch Brighton v West Ham are urged to travel by rail only if they have no alternative transport option. There will be no trains along the West Coastway after 7pm and those travelling back into London are urged to leave the stadium as soon as the match finishes to catch the last trains. Services will be extremely busy, queuing will be in place and there is a possibility that not everyone will be able to board the final services of the evening.

Over the weekend, some routes will also be affected by planned engineering. See the Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern websites for details.

Chris Fowler, Network Operations & Performance Director for GTR, said: “We’re really sorry about the impact that this industrial action is having on our customers’ travel plans, especially over the Bank Holiday. We’ll be running as many trains as we can, but unfortunately there will be a limited service and most routes will start later and finish earlier than usual.

“It’s incredibly important that people check their entire journey, including any connections, before they travel, allow plenty of time, and try not to rely on the last scheduled train. Stations and trains will be much busier than normal, especially at the start-up and close of services.”

Strike action will also mean amended services with fewer trains on Saturday 2 September, and on the morning of 3 September. Additionally, ASLEF has announced a train drivers’ strike on Friday 1 September, which is expected to impact services severely. More information will be available in the coming days.

Train times for Saturday 26 August are in online journey planners now. Information for Saturday 2 September will be available from Friday 25 August in journey planners.

For details of GTR services see GTR’s on-line industrial action information.