{"id":724641,"date":"2026-08-02T16:16:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/724641\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T16:16:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:16:44","slug":"uk-train-strikes-august-2026-strike-dates-and-affected-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/724641\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Train Strikes August 2026: Strike Dates and Affected Lines"},"content":{"rendered":"

So far, 2026 hasn\u2019t seen any hugely impactful nationwide train strikes. Yes, London has had a few disruptive walk-outs<\/a>\u00a0but on a UK-wide level things have been fairly stress-free. But this month industrial action will return to a major British rail operator.\u00a0<\/p>\n

East Midlands Railway (EMR) services will be hit by strikes on weekends throughout August 2026. The\u00a0National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has announced three 24-hour walk-outs. The union says the strike is in response to EMR failing\u00a0to withdraw faulty trains.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything you need to know about upcoming RMT industrial action\u00a0on the UK\u2019s rail network.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED:
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\u26d4\ufe0f\u00a0Everything you need to know about London tube strike dates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When are the next train strike dates?\u00a0<\/p>\n

RMT members\u00a0working for EMR\u00a0will walk out on the following dates:\u00a0<\/p>\n


\nSaturday August 1
\nSaturday August 8
\nSaturday August 15 <\/p>\n

The RMT is also\u00a0taking\u00a0action short of strike\u00a0on August 2-7, 9-14 and 16 onwards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On a nationwide level, there are no future strikes planned for now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What train lines will be affected?\u00a0<\/p>\n

East Midlands Railway\u00a0is the only operator set to be impacted. EMR runs trains across central and eastern England, serving the likes of London, Liverpool, Manchester, Derby, Nottingham, Norfolk and Lincolnshire.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When UK train workers go on a nationwide strike, these are\u00a0all the lines that are typically impacted.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\nAvanti West Coast
\nCrossCountry
\nEast Midlands Railway
\nGreat Western Railway
\nLNER
\nTransPennine Express
\nC2C
\nGreater Anglia
\nGTR (Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern, Thameslink)
\nSoutheastern
\nSouth Western Railway
\nChiltern Railways
\nNorthern Trains
\nWest Midlands Railway <\/p>\n

How will rail travel be affected by the strikes?<\/p>\n

On strike dates,\u00a0EMR will run a significantly reduced timetable on its Intercity and Connect routes. The key times to watch out for are between 7am and 7pm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

EMR is urging customers to only travel if necessary and to check train statuses before they travel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"East
\nPhotograph: Electric Egg \/ Shutterstock.comEast Midlands Railway (EMR) Aurora Class 810 train in Nottingham <\/p>\n

Do workers get paid when on strike?<\/p>\n

UK law states that employers\u00a0do not have to pay\u00a0employees who take part in\u00a0industrial action. However, many\u00a0unions keep some money aside to\u00a0issue strikers with \u2018strike pay\u2019 while they occupy picket lines. For example, the\u00a0RMT has the National Dispute Fund, which is supported by union membership payments as well as donations from members of the public.<\/p>\n

When\u00a0will the rail strikes end?<\/p>\n

For a strike to end,\u00a0a deal\u00a0has to be struck between a union and either the service operator or the government. Union members\u00a0then vote to approve the deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why are rail workers striking?<\/p>\n

RMT members working at EMR say they are striking due to the company refusing to\u00a0withdraw faulty trains. It claims that the\u00a0Class 810 Aurora fleet is operating with dangerous faults.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Can I get a refund if my train is cancelled?<\/p>\n

According to National Rail, if your train is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled due to the industrial action, you will:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Be entitled to a\u00a0change or refund from the original retailer of your ticket
\u2022\u00a0Be able to use\u00a0your ticket with another train company or an alternative route if it is available<\/p>\n

What do rail chiefs and unions have to say about the strikes?<\/p>\n

The RMT\u2019s general secretary Eddie Dempsey said:\u00a0\u2018EMR has been sending trains into service that are likely to fail and require a full reset which leaves the train with no active safety systems including loss of communication between train drivers, dispatchers, and trackside which has occurred at least three times in the last week alone.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Despite numerous attempts to resolve the dispute through talks, EMR will not remove the 810s from service therefore the strikes will go ahead, and we remain available for further talks.\u2019<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: \u2018We strongly urge both the RMT and CrossCountry to get back around the table to resolve this as quickly as possible.\u2019<\/p>\n

Philippa Cresswell, customer experience director at EMR, said: \u2018We\u2019re sorry to customers whose journeys will be affected by this industrial action.<\/p>\n

\u2018EMR continues to engage in constructive discussions with the RMT in the hope of resolving this dispute as quickly as possible.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018The dispute relates to concerns raised about the introduction of our new Class 810 Aurora fleet. Any suggestion that the trains do not meet the required safety standards is incorrect.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Class 810 fleet entered passenger service only after successfully completing all required testing and meeting the rigorous safety standards required by the independent regulator.\u2019<\/p>\n

Are there any other strikes to be aware of?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s\u00a0lots of\u00a0industrial action taking place in airports across Europe this summer \u2013 here is Time Out\u2019s full guide<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stay in the loop: sign up to our\u00a0free Time Out\u00a0UK newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for the latest\u00a0UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So far, 2026 hasn\u2019t seen any hugely impactful nationwide train strikes. Yes, London has had a few disruptive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1424,4821,1421,59,57,58,50,4822,387,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-724641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-audience-location-audience-united-kingdom","tag-categories-travel","tag-europe-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-news-transport-travel","tag-travel","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}