LNER has now called off their planned industrial action. We are leaving the travel advice below on the website for those who are travelling via a LUMO or Grand Central Train, as it contains important information about buses.
We have been notified that LNER, the main rail provider servicing the East Coast of England (i.e., between Edinburgh – Newcastle – Durham – London), has planned industrial action both the weekend before and the weekend after the CES 2024 and Capstone Conferences. Please read below for guidance regarding travel for those travelling by rail, especially if travelling from London.
Although it is possible that your specific train is unaffected, we would strongly advise you to check whether you can have your tickets refunded, and then seek alternative modes of transport if you have booked an LNER train. Please see https://www.lner.co.uk/travel-information/industrial-action/ for LNER advice about this. Alternative transport options could either encompass travelling on Monday 9th, when there are no strikes planned (although please note the conference begins at 9:00am and trains the day after strikes are often unreliably timetabled), or travelling over the weekend via a different company. We have set out some options below:
If you are travelling from London, you can book to travel on a LUMO train direct to Newcastle. Please note there are no direct LUMO trains between London and Durham, however Newcastle is only a short distance from Durham. You can then catch a bus from Newcastle train station to Durham (either the X-lines X21, X12, or Angel 21 bus route), or catch a non-LNER train from Newcastle to Durham (both Transpennine Express and CrossCountry operate this route). If there are no LUMO trains available, you could book a Grand Central train to Sunderland, which is also a short distance from Durham. Once in Sunderland, you can either catch a bus (either the X-lines X20, Prince Bishops 20, or Arriva 22 bus route) or a non-LNER train to Durham via Newcastle.
Alternatively, you can take a National Express coach from London Victoria station to Durham, however please note the journey time is over 6 hours and on Saturday or Sunday is overnight.
If you are travelling from Newcastle, you can take the Metro from the airport into Newcastle central train station. You can then catch a bus from Newcastle train station to Durham (either the X-lines X21, X12, or Angel 21 bus route), or catch a non-LNER train from Newcastle to Durham (both Transpennine Express and CrossCountry operate this route).
If you are travelling from Edinburgh, you can either travel onwards to Newcastle via National Express coach, and then follow advice above about travel from Newcastle to Durham, or travel to Durham from Edinburgh via a CrossCountry train.
If you are travelling from a location not listed and are concerned that your travel will be affected by the strikes, please email ces.2024@durham.ac.uk for advice.