Rail strikes set to affect racegoers at Glorious Goodwood and York Ebor meeting

Planned rail strikes are set to cause significant disruption for racegoers heading to the big festivals at Glorious Goodwood and York this summer.

The latest walkout by rail workers in a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions will take place on July 27, day two of Goodwood, when a severely reduced service is expected to be run by Southern Railway.

Services on the following day, when the Nassau Stakes headlines the Goodwood card, may also be affected due to the knock-on effects of the strike.

Train drivers at eight rail companies are set to strike across Britain on the final day of the meeting and, although Southern will not be directly involved, some routes may be affected.

Adam Waterworth, Goodwood managing director, said: "There was a rail strike during the Festival of Speed this year, so we've already had experience of it.

"We've tweaked the traffic plan again and increased the amount of free parking on the Wednesday. We've done what we can in terms of helping the traffic.

"Most people tend to come to the Wednesday of Glorious Goodwood by car anyway."

With Southern not directly involved in the rail strike on July 30, trains are likely to run but with a reduced timetable.

Waterworth added: "On the Saturday the situation with the strike is still unclear. As far as we know there will be trains running, but the suggestion is to allow more time to get here.

"We will still be running the shuttle bus from Chichester station to the racecourse on both the Wednesday and Saturday."

Workers at Network Rail and 14 train operators are also set to strike on August 18 and 20, days two and four of the Ebor meeting, if the dispute has not been resolved by then.

National strike action was taken by rail workers last month, with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) this week rejecting a revised pay offer from Network Rail.

Sandown and Leicester stage evening meetings on July 27, with Perth and Redcar hosting the afternoon cards in Britain along with Goodwood. The following day’s racing comes from Goodwood, Nottingham, Stratford, Epsom and Salisbury.

The fixtures on the final Saturday of July are scheduled at Goodwood, Newmarket, Doncaster, Thirsk, Lingfield and Hamilton.

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