Hundreds of festival goers have made it to the Cheltenham Literature Festival, however, rail strikes took place across the UK on the 8th of October. It means that many have had their journeys delayed, disturbed and (at worst case scenario) cancelled. The festival is taking place from the 7th to the 16th of October.
At Cheltenham Train Station, John Humphreys, a volunteer for the festival, was aware of the strikes taking place.
He says, “I was here on Saturday when the strikes took place…I took a shift this morning and there were no trains. People came on the bus occasionally and drove. There was a knock-on effect as well; so, the following days, people didn’t show up on the trains that they were supposed to be on.”
Heather Bland normally doesn’t take the train as she lives in the North of Scotland and prefers to drive than take the train, especially in the Summer when the strikes occurred.
Heather tells us “Because there is a lack of transport from where I am in the countryside and it’s unreliable and the trains are very expensive for what you pay for. I’ve paid £150 a ticket to come down and there wasn’t even coffee on board. It’s madness”.
At the Literature Festival site, Kate Murdoch had lost a couple of days at the festival because of the strikes.
Kate states “It has affected me because there’s been delays and cancellations because of the strikes. It does get quite annoying because you pay so much for the train and can’t even get to it.”
“I’d much rather be able to drive or take a coach than take the trains really.”
It is unknown whether the RMT will continue to strike next year and how it will affect the next literature festival in 2023.
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