Travellers to and from Gatwick and Heathrow airports face the prospect of increased journey times this week, as a mixture of strikes and train repair work disrupt services.
There will be no Southern rail services to Gatwick on December 13, 14 and 16 due to a train drivers strike, and Gatwick Express services will also be reduced over the period.
Advice on the airport’s website is as follows:
“Please plan your journey in advance and allow plenty of extra time to get to the airport. The train strike will increase the number of people driving in the area, so roads are expected to be much busier than usual. You may want to consider alternative methods of transport.”
Thameslink services are not expected to be affected by the strike, but are likely to be extremely busy, while Great Western services to Reading will not be affected.
Meanwhile London Underground’s Piccadilly Line continues to be affected by “severe delays”, due to repair work being carried out on trains.
A statement on the Transport for London website currently says:
“We have had to take some Piccadilly line trains out of service to repair their wheels, which means that we do not have a full fleet available.
“Therefore, a reduced service is operating on the Piccadilly line. Please allow extra time for your journey or consider using other routes.
“We are working around the clock to make the wheels safe, so that we can return to a good service as quickly as possible.”
gatwickairport.com, heathrowairport.com, southernrailway.com, tfl.gov.uk
