How to get around London and which routes to avoid during rail strikes

National rail strikes are going ahead this week, resulting in disruption on London’s public transport.

Members of the Rail, Maritime, and Transport Union (RMT) will walk out on Tuesday, January 3, Wednesday, January 4, Friday, January 6, and Saturday, January 7, 2023.

There is a separate ASLEF strike set to take place on Thursday, January 5.

While most of the Tube will be unaffected, the London Overground and Elizabeth line will be disrupted. Furthermore, bus strikes are also set to take place throughout January, resulting in further disruption.

Find out below how to get around the city on strike days and which routes to avoid.

The Tube

Most of the Tube will run as normal but there will be disruption on parts of the District and Bakerloo lines on strike days, and during the mornings following strike days.

On the District Line, there will be limited services between 7.30am and 6pm, and no services outside of these times, between Wimbledon and Parsons Green, and between Richmond and Turnham Green.

On the Bakerloo line, there will be no services between Queens Park and Harrow and Wealdstone, and the Circle line will run with a reduced service.

London Overground

There will be a reduced service on the London Overground, with services running from 7.30am until 6pm. The night Overground will not run on strike days.

There will be a reduced service between Richmond/Clapham Junction - Stratford, and only two trains will run per hour between Highbury and Islington - West Croydon/Clapham Junction/Crystal Palace.

No services will run between Barking and Barking Riverside, while four trains per hour will run between Gospel Oak - Barking.

There will also be a reduced service between Liverpool Street - Chingford/Cheshunt/Enfield Town.

January Rail Strike - In pictures

Elizabeth line

There will be a reduced service on the Elizabeth line and services will run in three sections.

The Liverpool Street - Shenfield section will not stop at Whitechapel, and services will run between 7.30am and 5.30pm, with two trains per hour.

On the Abbey Wood - Paddington section, there will be 12 trains per hour until 5.30pm and six trains per hour from 5.30pm.

On the Paddington - Heathrow and Reading section, services will run from 7.30am until 5.30pm. There will be two trains per hour between Paddington - Reading and two trains per hour Paddington - Heathrow T4.

London buses

There will be strikes on London buses on Wednesday, January 4 and Thursday, January 5. There will be further bus strikes on January 10, 12, 16, 19, 25, and 26.

On strike days, the buses routes affected are the following:

Day routes

3, 27, 45, 63, 68, 109, 130, 156, 195, 196, 201, 207, 267, 270, 278, 315, 322, 350, 367, 381, 407, 415, 427, 433, 464, 482, 490, 969, C10, E5, E7, E10, E11, H20, H25, H28, H26, P5, P13, R68, R70, S4, U5, U7, U9

Route 481 will operate but with fewer services on weekdays from 7.30am-8am, and from 3pm-4pm.

24-hour routes

24, 111, 159, 285, 344, 345.

Night routes

N3, N27, N63, N68, N109, N207, N381

School routes

671

Santander Cycles

Santander Cycles is London’s public bicycle hire scheme and a great way to travel around the city, particularly on strike days.

There are 800 docking stations across London, with about 12,000 bikes available to hire operating 24/7.

A 30-minute journey using Santander Cycles costs £1.65.

For more information visit Santander Cycles.