By 
No Chiltern Railways trains will run between Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon on Thursday 12 November, so Warwick station will have no direct trains to Hatton, Claverdon, Bearley, Wilmcote or Stratford that day. The Warwick train strike is a 24-hour walkout by the RMT union’s train managers. Chiltern says the rest of its main line, including trains from Warwick and Warwick Parkway to London Marylebone and Birmingham, will run close to normal.
The Chiltern Railways strike page, updated on 5 November, lists two other changes. There’ll be slightly fewer trains between Leamington and Birmingham Moor Street, because the local shuttle trains won’t run, and Chiltern says Hatton and Lapworth will notice this most. No Chiltern trains will run north of Moor Street towards Stourbridge.
What it means if you travel from Warwick
- Warwick to London or Birmingham: Chiltern expects the normal number of trains into and out of Marylebone. Some peak-time trains already have small timetable changes because of a football match at Wembley that evening.
- Warwick to Stratford: Chiltern tells passengers on the Stratford line to go via Dorridge and change to West Midlands Railway. Tickets to or from stations between Hatton and Stratford-upon-Avon are accepted that way at no extra cost. Chiltern says journey planners and its app will show the changes by Monday 9 November.
- By bus: the X18 runs between Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon. Departures from Warwick’s stops are on our Warwick bus times page.
- Tickets for 12 November: Chiltern says they can’t be used on a different day, because the strike affects so few trains. If your booked train is cancelled, you can get a fee-free refund from the retailer you bought it from. That includes Advance tickets, and a return made of two Advance tickets where either leg falls on the strike day.
- Booked assistance: if you’ve booked help for a train that isn’t running, Chiltern asks you to call its customer relations team on 03456 005 165 (option 3, then option 3).
Stations and ticket offices will be open as normal. Live departures from Warwick and Warwick Parkway are on our Warwick train times page.
Why the train managers are striking
The dispute is about East West Rail, the new line between Oxford and Milton Keynes that Chiltern will run. The RMT announced the strike on 5 November. It wants a guarantee of a second, safety-critical member of staff on board, and says driver-only operation would put passengers and existing train manager jobs at risk.
Chiltern says it’s disappointed by the action. It says every East West Rail train will have two people on board, the driver and a colleague who checks tickets and helps passengers, and that no existing staff will have their roles changed.
Know more about this, or got another story? Send us a story, a photo or a press release. We read everything.
