Punters face travel chaos at Epsom Derby festival with train strikes planned on BOTH days

Strike action will impact services from 31 May to 3 June.

Only travel if absolutely necessary on 2 June, and check before you travel on 31 May and 3 June.

We are sorry for the disruption this strike action will cause.

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— SWR Help (@SW_Help) May 25, 2023

It’s another big blow for this year’s Derby, which will be run at 1.30pm for the first time in its history.

That’s due to a clash with the FA Cup final on the same day, which sees the Derby run at its earliest ever time.

Aslef, the British trade union for train drivers, is striking due to a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

The strike was originally announced on April 27, with the union rejecting a ‘risible’ 4 per cent pay offer from the 16 train operators it’s in dispute with.

General secretary Mick Whelan said at the time: “The proposal – of just 4 per cent – was clearly not designed to be accepted as inflation is still running north of 10 per cent and our members at these companies have not had an increase for four years.”

The race, one of the five British Flat Classics, will be broadcast on ITV and will also be aired on Racing TV.

Strike action will be an enormous headache for many, but one punter on Twitter managed to see the funny side.

They joked: “With a train strike that day we’ll have to use a horse and cart to get to Epsom.”