If you’re attending the IAML Congress in Cambridge (31 July – 4 August), we should warn you there are strikes threatened. Many of you are seasoned travellers, and will be keeping up with the news already. You’ll appreciate that situations can change – keep an eye on the news for unexpected updates! Read on, right down to the bottom for the latest updates …
Railway workers
The final threatened strike in July is on 29th July. However, trains which didn’t run on 29th may be in the wrong part of the country on 30th, so things may still be unsettled. We asked National Rail where you could see what’s happening:- https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions/industrial-action-july-20230625/
The BBC News is also a good place to look for updates.
London Underground
The strikes on London Underground, 23-28 July have now been called off. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66268545
Gatwick Airport to be hit by strikes over summer holidays
‘The workers, at four firms, include baggage handlers and ground staff. They will strike from Friday 28 July to Tuesday 1 August, and then again from Friday 4 August to Tuesday 8 August. Read the whole news article:- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66199180
What can you do?
Thinking about buses? Here are two useful links.
It’s only fair to remind you that buses are much cheaper than taxis. Cambridge is 28 miles (45 km) from Stansted, 68 miles (109 km) from Heathrow, and 92 miles (149 km) from Gatwick. That’s a very expensive taxi ride.
Transport for London – taxi fares – Taxi fares vary depending on when you travel. A taxi fare of 6 miles is between £28 and £40, to give you an indication.
Anyone arriving by air is best advised to go to their airport’s website and look for the travel pages:-
- Heathrow – Transport and Directions
- Gatwick – To and From
- Stansted – Getting To and From
- Luton – To and From LLA
There is also more detailed information on travelling from London’s airports to Cambridge by rail here.
THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS POSTED ON 2O JULY 2023:-
A kind organising committee member has been looking into possible British transport disruption on 28 and 29 July, and has discovered the following:-
1. (good news) according to tfl.gov.uk “There are no strikes planned on bus, DLR, London Overground, Night Overground, Elizabeth line, tram or IFS Cloud Cable Car services” during the period 23-29 July.
2. UPDATE London Underground (tube) strikes for 23rd to 28th July have been called off.
3. Rail services will be very limited on Saturday 29th and quite likely to be overcrowded. Standing is permitted when there are no seats. On Sunday 30th early services are likely to be disrupted because some stock and drivers will be in wrong places. See National Rail website:- https://www.nationalrail.co.uk for details.
4. Rail services are running normally on Friday 28 July. The strike by the RMT Union is for the 29th, so there should be no problem if you are travelling on 28th. The next paragraphs are still largely valid except for now superseded references to London Underground.
Heathrow to Cambridge, 28 July: Heathrow Express services will be running to Paddington, but the long-and-tedious Piccadilly Line service from Heathrow to King’s Cross presumably won’t be. Therefore delegates will either have to take a taxi from Paddington to King’s Cross; or could take the Elizabeth Line from Paddington to Liverpool Street and get a train from there; or could take the bus from Paddington to King’s Cross (not recommended…)
Gatwick to Cambridge, 28 July: there’s a through service Gatwick to Cambridge twice an hour; the tube strike won’t be a problem because there is no need to change in London.
Stansted to Cambridge, 28 July: 2 direct trains per hour. Not travelling via London so no problem regarding the tube.
5. Lastly, there could be slight changes to instructions for the London pre-conference tour if the tubes really aren’t running. Watch this space!
You are reminded that taxi fares within London are expensive, and from London to Cambridge will be eye-wateringly expensive.
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We’re very frequently posting about all manner of things via social media, so if you still have a Twitter account, please follow @IAML2023 – or you can also follow the Facebook group . (You might also catch KarenMcAMusic occasionally posting on Threads – but that’s her own personal account.)
Travel updates relating to the Cambridge Congress can also be found on the main, international IAML website here:- https://iaml.info/news/travel-updates-iaml-cambridge… – please do share this with any delegates who have told you they’ve given up on Twitter and Facebook!