Rail Strikes announced

[dogeggs]

I get that people are distressed over this. Jeez, it’s a huge headache for lots of us to get to grips with. Some might never make it to the farm which is devastating.

But I can’t figure out how the biggest national rail strike since the 80s is somehow a problem anyone should reasonably expect an 86 year old farmer to fix on their behalf.

 

Edited June 7, 2022 by dogeggs

[zahidf]

16 minutes ago, dogeggs said:

I get that people are distressed over this. Jeez, it’s a huge headache for lots of us to get to grips with. Some might never make it to the farm which is devastating.

But I can’t figure out how the biggest national rail strike since the 80s is somehow a problem anyone should reasonably expect an 86 year old farmer to fix on their behalf.

 

Well if he has no practical solution, he should come out against it. 

[dogeggs]

1 minute ago, zahidf said:

Well if he has no practical solution, he should come out against it. 

He doesn’t need to do either.
 

Also, the above are not mutually exclusive.

 

 

[waterfalls21234]

The spoilt brats have come out to play it seems.....this strike has absoutly nothing to do with the festival so no it is not up to them to fix it......and there are many ways to get there that dont involve the train......if you do have to get the train you can do on wednesday fine anyway.

 

[sedra]

54 minutes ago, eyebrain said:

We’re flying to London Heathrow on 21st, got a hotel booked in Stratford and then a bus to Glasto from Victoria on the morning of 22nd. If tubes are not running it’s going to be a hell for us tourists. Oh well - at least we know in advance. 

Can you change your hotel booking to nearer to Victoria? Otherwise you should be able  to get a bus or a taxi/Uber from Stratford to Victoria. 

[danmarks]

So.  To get this right. Glastonbury should be very left wing until it interrupts your plans then it should break all workers rights so it can happen?

Edited June 7, 2022 by danmarks
@ zadhif everyone else seems to get it

[henry bear]

30 minutes ago, zahidf said:

Well if he has no practical solution, he should come out against it. 

What the fuck are you on about? This has nothing to do with Michael Eavis, or Glastonbury in general. The strike will affect many more people going about their daily lives than those going to Glastonbury. It will affect far more tourists than those going to Glastonbury. Should the organisers of Wimbledon come out against it too? What about the organisers of all the other gigs on that will be affected? 
Yes, it’s a pain in the arse for those inconvenienced, but people’s jobs are at risk. There’s little point in striking if nothing is affected. Hopefully there’ll be a settlement before then and it’ll be called off, but good luck to the railway workers whatever happens. 

[Alvoram]

@zahidf If you have an issue getting to the festival, plenty of people are offering help, and many more will come forward in time... 

If you have a specific requirement that hasn't been met yet, why don't you post it in there and see if anybody can help. 

Moaning and criticizing folk for trying to protect their livelihoods and make sure that they can put bread on their tables isn't going to achieve anything, people working together and looking after each other will. 

 

Also, you may want to strap yourself in, because with the state the economy is in, and the competence of the people in charge of improving things, there's going to be more than a few minor inconveniences over the next 4 or 5 years. 

[spaniyell]

It's just another troll using current events to play views rather than help out.  Say something that might be constructive!

[AlexOvd]

7 hours ago, eyebrain said:

We’re flying to London Heathrow on 21st, got a hotel booked in Stratford and then a bus to Glasto from Victoria on the morning of 22nd. If tubes are not running it’s going to be a hell for us tourists. Oh well - at least we know in advance. 

I am in the same situation, arriving to Heathrow on Tuesday and I already booked the National Express just in case. I need to go to Decathlon on the Tuesday for a tent that we would have pre-reserved, so that's another one. No fun but I guess with some patience and using the buses we can make it work (I arrive in the super early morning), specially travelling out of rush hours.

Just investigate exactly what buses you need, stops etc and again, plan with super extra time. We will be fine, we will just need patience!

[dmedxb]

Just now, AlexOvd said:

I am in the same situation, arriving to Heathrow on Tuesday and I already booked the National Express just in case. I need to go to Decathlon on the Tuesday for a tent that we would have pre-reserved, so that's another one. No fun but I guess with some patience and using the buses we can make it work (I arrive in the super early morning), specially travelling out of rush hours.

Just investigate exactly what buses you need, stops etc and again, plan with super extra time. We will be fine, we will just need patience!

Yeah, this. I'm helping a fellow member of the international contingent who is also arriving on Tuesday 21st and is understandably quite spooked about the strikes - his first time to the UK! 

Like I've said to him, it'll be fine - just budget extra time, extra patience. 

[AlexOvd]

5 minutes ago, dmedxb said:

Yeah, this. I'm helping a fellow member of the international contingent who is also arriving on Tuesday 21st and is understandably quite spooked about the strikes - his first time to the UK! 

Like I've said to him, it'll be fine - just budget extra time, extra patience. 

Do you leave in London? How was the tube strike on Monday out of rush hours? Did you need to wait a lot for buses?

[steviewevie]

If strike goes ahead and hardly anything runs on Tuesday or Thursday, then can expect services to be pretty screwed up on the wednesday and friday too?

[dmedxb]

21 minutes ago, AlexOvd said:

Do you leave in London? How was the tube strike on Monday out of rush hours? Did you need to wait a lot for buses?

I'm international contingent as well, I'm afraid, so I can't answer.

I arrive in the UK on Saturday 18th so I'm not gonna be affected too badly. Got a coach+ticket package, departs the o2 at 10am Wednesday. Potentially some tube issues that morning (some sources saying the strike runs until 8am Weds am?) so will take an Uber from family home in S.London up to the o2 to catch the coach. 

[FrankieX]

My plan, living in the North of England, was to get a train to Bristol on the Tuesday and stay overnight. This would allow me to reach the site by the morning, get my tent set up and just soak in being at Glastonbury for the first time in five years (I missed out in 2019) in a nice relaxed way.

With the train strike, that isn't an option for me. I live in a small town with an hourly train service but no National Express or Megabus stops anywhere near. Short of paying £70+ to get a taxi to a nearby city, there may not be a realistic way for me to travel on the Tuesday at all. As far as I can work out, my choices are to either travel non-stop by train on the Wednesday (which would have me getting on site around 2-3pm at the earliest, if I set off at 5.30am) or get the train to Bristol on Monday and stay two nights. I'm leaning towards the latter option for two reasons: I'm not at all confident that the services on Wednesday will be running first thing due to the strike disruption, which could make me even later, and having to wake up at 4.30am really won't prepare me well for the next five days. Going on Monday means I have to pay another £50 for the hotel and relies on me being able to get that day off work too (which I'll see about today).

And I recognise that I'm probably pretty lucky in all this, as I do have some flexibility in what I can do. I haven't booked tickets, and probably won't until the last minute just to see if the situation changes. I can probably get the extra day off (fingers crossed). It's definitely worried me though, and I hope that the people working at the festival are looking to support those who need help reaching the farm.

[dogeggs]

40 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

If strike goes ahead and hardly anything runs on Tuesday or Thursday, then can expect services to be pretty screwed up on the wednesday and friday too?

I think I heard on the news last night that it’s likely that services through the whole week could be heavily affected and/or disrupted…not just the strike dates

[Alvoram]

23 minutes ago, FrankieX said:

My plan, living in the North of England, was to get a train to Bristol on the Tuesday and stay overnight. This would allow me to reach the site by the morning, get my tent set up and just soak in being at Glastonbury for the first time in five years (I missed out in 2019) in a nice relaxed way.

With the train strike, that isn't an option for me. I live in a small town with an hourly train service but no National Express or Megabus stops anywhere near. Short of paying £70+ to get a taxi to a nearby city, there may not be a realistic way for me to travel on the Tuesday at all. As far as I can work out, my choices are to either travel non-stop by train on the Wednesday (which would have me getting on site around 2-3pm at the earliest, if I set off at 5.30am) or get the train to Bristol on Monday and stay two nights. I'm leaning towards the latter option for two reasons: I'm not at all confident that the services on Wednesday will be running first thing due to the strike disruption, which could make me even later, and having to wake up at 4.30am really won't prepare me well for the next five days. Going on Monday means I have to pay another £50 for the hotel and relies on me being able to get that day off work too (which I'll see about today).

And I recognise that I'm probably pretty lucky in all this, as I do have some flexibility in what I can do. I haven't booked tickets, and probably won't until the last minute just to see if the situation changes. I can probably get the extra day off (fingers crossed). It's definitely worried me though, and I hope that the people working at the festival are looking to support those who need help reaching the farm.

Whereabouts in the north Frankie, lots of people offering lifts from North on tuesday, including me (Midlands) 

[kevbizarre]

UL petrol looks like it will hit £2 per litre in some places this week. Wonder how much more expensive the driving option will be in a few weeks. Grim….

[One Tonne Baby]

For anyone staying in London and worried about getting around, or to different locations for a coach, don’t worry! It’s not ideal but the bus system is huge, black cabs will be in abundance, as well as other firms like Uber, etc..

[Rose-Colored Boy]

8 hours ago, zahidf said:

Hope you get in OK!

 

Don't complain though, or you'll be a tory apparently.

I hate myself for biting again, but.. moaning about being mildly inconvenienced when travelling to a music festival - complete with wishing for the unions to be ‘broken’ in response - when people’s livelihoods are on the line is one of the most Tory things I’ve ever read on a public forum. Christ. 

[FrankieX]

6 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

Whereabouts in the north Frankie, lots of people offering lifts from North on tuesday, including me (Midlands) 

Thanks. I'm okay on my own (just inconvenienced as much as anything), so I'd rather leave the lift shares to people who really need them. I live in Grimsby (which is arguably only on the border of North and Midlands).

[zahidf]

5 minutes ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

I hate myself for biting again, but.. moaning about being mildly inconvenienced when travelling to a music festival - complete with wishing for the unions to be ‘broken’ in response - when people’s livelihoods are on the line is one of the most Tory things I’ve ever read on a public forum. Christ. 

"Compulsory redundancies among rail workers have not yet been threatened by either Network Rail or train operators"

 

lets not exagerate. Its clearly a bit of dick waving by the union

[bexj]

1 minute ago, zahidf said:

"Compulsory redundancies among rail workers have not yet been threatened by either Network Rail or train operators"

 

lets not exagerate. Its clearly a bit of dick waving by the union

So just a bit of going on strike for fun then.  Because unions do that.... just to piss about with your Glastonbury.  

[Rose-Colored Boy]

30 minutes ago, dogeggs said:

I think I heard on the news last night that it’s likely that services through the whole week could be heavily affected and/or disrupted…not just the strike dates

The rest of the week will probably resemble a Sunday service, with early finishes to services on the Monday Wednesday and Friday, and late starts to services on the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. 

[Rose-Colored Boy]

Just now, bexj said:

So just a bit of going on strike for fun then.  Because unions do that.... just to piss about with your Glastonbury.  

Quite. NR and the TOCs wanted to bring in compulsory redundancies pre-pandemic - it took months of hardball negotiating to delay them for this long. They’re licking their lips.