Last year the government announced that the early May bank holiday in 2020 will move from Monday 4th May to Friday 8th May to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day. This is only the second time ever that the early May bank holiday has been moved, with the first occurrence in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of VE day.

This change covers England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland and affects the timetables of public transport. This means that TransXChange data covering the 4th and 8th May 2020 will need extra attention.

As the holiday has moved, the TransXChange element “MayDay” will be interpreted as Friday 8th May 2020. That will apply to the MayDay element itself, and all group elements that normally include MayDay, such as “AllBankHolidays”. Confusingly, “HolidayMondays” will continue to cover MayDay, even though it will be on a Friday in 2020.

TransXChange that includes alterations to timetables for MayDay will apply on Friday 8th May 2020. If that is not the intention, then you will need to remove MayDay from the operating profiles and replace it with specific days of operation or non-operation.