Train strikes this December 2023
If you're graduating or planning to travel back home at the end of the week for the Winter break, there are scheduled train strikes which may impact your journey.
Saturday 2 December affecting:
- East Midlands Railway
- LNER
Sunday 3 December affecting:
- Avanti West Coast
- Chiltern Railways
- Great Northern
- London Northwestern Railway
- Thameslink
- West Midlands Railway
Tuesday 5 December affecting:
- c2c
- Greater Anglia (including Stansted Express)
Wednesday 6 December affecting:
- Gatwick Express
- South Western Railway (including Island Line)
- Southeastern
- Southern
Thursday 7 December affecting:
- CrossCountry
- Great Western Railway
- Heathrow Express
Friday 8 December affecting:
- Northern
- TransPennine Express
What you need to do
Please plan your journey before travelling and allow extra time as other forms of public transport may be busier than usual.
We also recommend you check your train journey before you travel on the National Rail journey planner for live information and updates. Some timetables are not amended until closer to the date of travel.
You can also check directly on the following local transport provider websites that serve the University station route:
December Degree Congregations
Degree Congregations for our Class of 2023 Birmingham graduates are due to take place in the Great Hall between Monday 4 December and Friday 8 December.
For graduands and guests due to attend Graduation on a day of scheduled strike action, please plan accordingly to arrive on campus two hours before the start of your ceremony. Other forms of transport (alternative travel) and parking at the University will be busier than usual.
I already have a ticket for a strike day. What should I do?
If your train is cancelled, you have two options: either a full refund or a free change of journey time, no matter what type of ticket you have. Even if there is a limited service on your line, you can choose to travel on a different day to avoid the strikes.
Whichever option you choose, the first step is to contact the company you bought your ticket from, which could be the rail company itself, or a website like theTrainline.com. Train companies have put together advice on claiming a refund, changing your journey time, and travelling on alternative date with your ticket.
Alternative travel
If you do need to travel on the above dates, we recommend you look at alternative transport. For local travel, check out the Transport for West Midlands website and our Sustainable Travel intranet page where you can find more information on discounts available by bus.
For further journeys, you may want to check out travelling by coach. Students can get 15% off at National Express and 10% off at Megabus.