Reading Festival goers warned over train strikes

Festival-goers are being warned about the upcoming train strikes, which will impact their journeys to this year’s Reading Festival.

As reported by BBC News, the strikes will fall in line with the upcoming festival dates (August 25-27), and see local travel affected as around 20,000 members working for 14 train operating companies are expected to walk out.

The strike is related to the working conditions and pay, and the full line of striking conditions have been outlined by the RMT union. Companies included in the strike include East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, LNER, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western Railway, Transpennine Express and West Midlands Trains and GTR (including Gatwick Express).

Those travelling by train to Reading are expected to face severe delays and disruptions on Saturday, August 26, when the strikes take place. The station will also shut at 19:00 BST.

Underground travel via TFL’s Elizabeth line is still planned to run as usual on the Saturday, however Reading Borough Council has warned those planning on commuting using the service that they should “plan ahead for alternative transport.”

The festival is held on a farm off Richfield Avenue and, with an estimated figure of 105,000 people set to be in attendance, there are also expected to be a series of delays and closures for those travelling by car.

According to the outlet, multiple road closures and parking restrictions will be in place around the Richfield Avenue site, where the festival is held. What’s more, the Thames Path will also shut overnight from 19:00 – 06:00 BST from Thursday 24 August to Monday 28 August between Scours Lane to the far end of Thameside Promenade.

The new Rivermead Leisure Centre will also be closed for one week during the duration of the festival – with its doors remaining shut from August 23-29.

Last month, Reading and Leeds Festival confirmed that The 1975 will be the final headliners for this year’s event, following the withdrawal of Lewis Capaldi due to personal reasons.

Remaining headliners for this year’s festival are Foals, Billie Eilish, The Killers, Sam Fender and Imagine Dragons, and other acts on the line-up include Wet Leg, Bicep, Becky Hill, Steve Lacy, Central Cee, MUNA, The Snuts, Tion Wayne and many more.

Remaining tickets can be found here.

Earlier this month, it was confirmed that both Reading & Leeds festivals have banned campfires, BBQs and disposable vapes ahead of their 2023 instalment.

Organisers shared their list of “essential info” with festival-goers, which outlined that disposable vapes are now banned as they “pollute the environment and incorrect disposal of these can be hazardous at waste centres”.

It also says that campfires and disposable BBQs are prohibited “anywhere at the festival, including the campsites”, and there is a limit of one A4-sized bag per person permitted into the Arena.

Today (August 17), it was also reported that organisers will be implementing increased security at Reading & Leeds festival this year to “weed out” drug dealers operating at the site.