August 24 - All the travel challenges this bank holiday
Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast
The Independent
3.6 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 24 August 2023
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
I predict that we're about to see the busiest holiday since 2019 this bank holiday weekend and it won't be helped by the train strikes. Over ten thousand trains are going to be out of service. Watch out if you've booked a weekend in Cornwall as you may be heavily affected. However if you're travelling through Greater Anglia you're in luck. Either way make sure you check your journey in advance.
This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe here to have it delivered every Friday to your inbox.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me, Simon Calder. |
| 0:06.6 | It's Thursday the 24th of August, which means things are about to get very busy indeed on the travel front. |
| 0:14.9 | And I thought as a kind of public service, I would give you the lowdown on all the peak spots, what to watch out for, |
| 0:25.1 | and obviously try to equip you for a stress-free journey, although that's going to be very difficult. |
| 0:33.0 | Just looking ahead to the bank holiday weekend, 25th, that's the Friday, Saturday, the 26th, Sunday the 27th and bank holiday Monday, the 28th. |
| 0:43.5 | Last bank holiday till Christmas, of course, and not a bank holiday at all in Scotland, I realise, well, it's going to be, I think, the busiest holiday time that we have had since 2019. |
| 0:58.3 | It's going to be complicated by the fact that there is a rail strike on Saturday. |
| 1:03.7 | So let's just run through what that is going to mean. |
| 1:07.0 | Members of the RMT union up to 20,000 of them working for 14 train operators in England. |
| 1:15.3 | We'll be going on strike again. I make it day 34. |
| 1:19.0 | That's going to affect all the leading intercity and commuter train operators, |
| 1:23.7 | lead to the cancellation of certainly well over 10,000 trains, and it's just the latest stoppage in a long bit of dispute about pay and working arrangements. |
| 1:35.2 | The effects are going to be very different depending on where you are. |
| 1:39.9 | For instance, no trains at all, two from within Cornwall, which is a big concern, obviously, for lots of people on holiday there |
| 1:48.5 | and who are very keen to travel by train. |
| 1:52.1 | Saturday, absolutely the peak day. |
| 1:54.5 | So that's going to be very tricky. |
| 1:56.6 | And elsewhere, well, Greater Anglia, for example, they say we're running a pretty normal timetable. |
| 2:03.6 | That's because Greater Anglia has, I believe, exclusively driver-only operation. |
| 2:11.4 | That means that if there's an RMT strike, most trains are going to get through. |
| 2:16.3 | And the converse is that, well, there's another |
| 2:20.1 | strike next Friday, the 1st of September, and that is going to see many cancellations. Drivers, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Independent, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Independent and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.