Is Eurostar affected by the rail strike? Dates of June 2022 strikes - what happens if your train is cancelled

Travellers in the UK are bracing themselves for the second day of widespread disruption due to the rail strike.

Timetables have been reduced to just 20% of their standard service.

More than 50,000 workers across Network Rail, 13 regional train operators and Transport for London are expected to strike.

The public have been told to avoid travelling by rail, with four in five services cut.

The strikes have fallen on a busy week in the UK’s social calendar, with Glastonbury Festival and London’s Hyde Park concerts taking place this weekend.

But, it’s not just British rail that will be hit by the chaos, with the Eurostar train which runs services from the UK to Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels also seeing disruption to its services.

Here’s everything you need to know about how the rail strike in the UK will impact Eurostar.

When is the rail strike?

The train strike will last for three days, on the 21, 23 and 25 June.

However, it is expected to cause disruption to services for six days.

The strike will see an estimated 40,000 - 50,000 employees take part in industrial action.

Will Eurostar be affected by the rail strike?

Eurostar issued a statement about the upcoming strike on social media.

On 16 June, they took to Twitter to confirm that due to the strike they would be running a reduced timetable between 21 to 25 of June.

They had previously stated online that they were “not expecting the UK national strike to affect Eurostar trains.”

What can you do if your Eurostar train is cancelled?

Eurostar has some options available to passengers due to travel during the rail strike.

They will be offering a reduced timetable from 21 to 25 June, which means some trains are cancelled.

If your Eurostar train has been cancelled due to the strike you can:

• Exchange your booking for free for travel at a different time/date in the same travel class OR
• Cancel your booking and claim a Eurostar e-voucher valid for 12 months OR
• Cancel your booking and claim a refund of your ticket via your point of sale

If your train is still scheduled to run, you can expect to experience disruption with any connecting trains you may have with local UK railway and the London underground.

If you decide that you do want to travel during the strike, Eurostar is letting you reschedule your train tickets to another date, free of charge.

These are outlined in further detail on their website.

Why is there a train strike?

The RMT union members voted in favour of the strike after talks on pay rises and concerns around redundancy packages broke down.

The union has stated that staff who worked throughout the Covid-19 pandemic are now facing job cuts and a pay freeze.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Rail companies are making at least £500 million a year in profits, whilst fat cat rail bosses have been paid millions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Railway workers have been treated appallingly and, despite our best efforts in negotiations, the rail industry, with the support of the Government, has failed to take their concerns seriously.

“We have a cost-of-living crisis, and it is unacceptable for railway workers to either lose their jobs or face another year of a pay freeze when inflation is at 11.1% and rising.

“Our union will now embark on a sustained campaign of industrial action which will shut down the railway system.”