Brighton Pride: Practice strikes to disrupt occasion as ASLEF announce industrial motion

There shall be no trains going to or from Brighton station right now as a practice strike disrupts the UK’s hottest Pride occasion.

The practice driver’s union ASLEF notified practice operators of their ban on additional time work together with 5 August, that means Thameslink providers won’t make it to the south coast.

Instead, its Brighton trains are to terminate at Three Bridges within the city of Crawley, some 23 miles from the place the Pride competition is happening.

The strikes come amid Storm Antoni which is to hit the seaside city with sturdy winds and heavy rains for a lot of the day as a yellow climate warning was introduced by the Met Office.

Thameslink, a part of the biggest UK railway franchise GTR, introduced the news with a “heavy heart” saying Pride goers ought to search different means to attend the occasion however appreciated how “extremely difficult” this could be.

The practice operator added its “ultimate aim [was] to keep people safe on this occasion” in a press release.

‘Truly devastating news’

Responding to the journey disruption, managing director of Pride Paul Kemp made it clear he was against GTR’s resolution for a whole Saturday shutdown.

Conveying disappointment, Mr Kemp mentioned in a press release: “This will come as an enormous shock for not solely Pride and the LGBTQ+ neighborhood however all the companies making ready to welcome company to our metropolis from throughout the UK and world.

“Many Pride visitors have already booked and paid for Saturday night accommodation locally, they will now have to change plans or find an alternative way to get into the city.

“It’s really devastating news for everybody.”

He added that it was “very unhappy” to see GTR implement a service shutdown rather than “discovering a working different”.

Read extra:
‘Danger to life’ warning as ‘atrocious’ Storm Antoni arrives
What is the National Eisteddfod – one of Europe’s largest music and poetry festivals?

Pride and the rail operator acknowledged they each had a long-standing relationship with one another as Thameslink mentioned it normally runs a “significantly enhanced service” for the competition yearly with further late-night trains.

Trains will run to and from Brighton on Sunday as Pride festivities proceed tomorrow.