Traffic bottlenecks caused by bank holiday getaways will herald the beginning of a rough ten days for British drivers and rail passengers, as a wet early May is interspersed with engineering projects and train strikes.
Bank Holiday Travel Chaos: Delays Predicted for UK Road and Rail Networks
Automobile associations anticipated that the longest delays would occur on Friday evening, especially for people travelling from London to the southwest.
The RAC predicted 16 million more motor trips for leisure over the upcoming long weekend, which is more than usual for the first bank holiday in May. However, experts Inrix stated that traffic will be lighter than it would be during a similarly impacted Easter holiday.
Several partial shutdowns of the West Coast mainline, one of Britain's key rail arteries, over the weekend may drive more travellers onto motorways. On Sunday, there will be no trains leaving London Euston; however, there will be a reduced service for the remainder of the weekend.
For individuals travelling through the Midlands and especially Scotland, there will be replacement buses or detours due to additional closures around Coventry, Crewe, and Carlisle.
Train Strikes Exacerbate UK Travel Woes
Train delays will also be expected in Cambridge and Liverpool over the weekend, adding to the challenges faced by travellers.
A £75 million plan including 487 distinct projects will be carried out by Network Rail over the bank holiday; passengers are advised to check before they travel.
Anit Chandarana, director of system operator for Network Rail, stated that much of the railway would remain operational as usual: “We know people want to travel by train and not replacement bus and we do our best to fit as much work as we can into these closures to minimise the impact on passengers and freight customers.”
The Aslef union's train drivers will embark on another week of strikes on Monday, the bank holiday. Starting on Saturday, there will be no overtime allowed nationally. Beginning on Tuesday, drivers at all three of England's national rail companies will go on strike for a full day.
A significant portion of the network will be without trains due to the ongoing 24-hour stoppages, and the overtime prohibition will also result in fewer timetables and major disruptions on some lines.
On strike days, the majority of operators won't operate any trains, which will have an impact on certain cross-border routes to Scotland and Wales.
On Tuesday, May 7, train drivers will go on strike across commuter services in the southern region of England. The majority of trains in the north will stop operating on Thursday, May 9, while long-distance trains and Midlands services will be the most severely affected by Tuesday's stoppages.
This weekend, a growing number of individuals seems to be travelling overseas instead; Friday is predicted to be the busiest day of the year for flights departing from the UK. Cirium, an aviation analytics company, reports that over 3,000 departures were planned for the holiday weekend, representing around 10% more flights than at the same time in 2023.