South Western Railway Warns of Four More Days of Disruption


Strike action likely to hit services again this month


There will be . Picture: SWR

South Western Railway (SWR) is advising passengers not to travel unless absolutely necessary between Thursday 18 August and Sunday 21 August as services will be disrupted by strike action.

The RMT, which has 2,100 members working for SWR, has called for a walkout on Thursday 18 August and Saturday 20 August in a dispute over pay. Network Rail staff are also taking industrial action on these days and there will only be contingency cover for critical roles during the strikes.

As on previous strikes day there will be four trains an hour running between Waterloo and Windsor serving stations on the Hounslow Loop which includes Brentford, Chiswick, Isleworth, Kew Bridge and Syon Lane between 7.15am and 6.30pm.

This service will also provide the only trains serving Putney, Barnes, Barnes Bridge and Wandsworth Town.

In addition, four trains an hour will run between Woking and Waterloo calling at Wimbledon. Southern Rail also serves Wimbledon and its staff are not striking.

On significant parts of the SWR network there will be no trains at all.

The days after the strike will be disrupted as the first trains across the network will be starting much later than usual.

On Friday 19 August, there is also a strike on London Underground and London Overground. In addition, bus drivers working for London United will be on strike on Friday 19 August and Saturday 20 August which means routes operating from local garages such as Hounslow, Hounslow Heath, Stamford Brook and Fulwell will not be operating.

SWR will not be affected by the planned ASLEF strike action on Saturday 13 August, but some other train companies will be, so passengers should check before they travel.

SWR’s Commercial Director, Peter Williams, said, “Please only travel if absolutely necessary between Thursday 18 and Sunday 21 August as strike action will severely impact our services. Those who must travel are urged to carefully check the times of first and last trains and seek alternative means of travel.

“The scale of the action will be incredibly disruptive for our customers with large parts of our network closed on strike days and a late start up on the morning after each strike day. First trains will run much later than usual and are likely to be very busy, so please travel later in the day if you can.

“We are sorry that strikes will again cause such disruption. We are grateful to our customers for their continued cooperation, patience, and understanding as the rail industry works to bring this damaging nationwide strike action to an end.”

The RMT have called the strike after rejecting a pay offer from Network Rail which it describes as ‘paltry’. It is asking for a pay rise in line with inflation for its members and that none of the rise be conditional on achieving “modernisation milestones”.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said, “Network Rail are still seeking to make our members poorer when we have won in some cases double what they are offering, with other rail operators.

“The train operating companies remain stubborn and are refusing to make any new offer which deals with job security and pay.

“Strike action is the only course open to us to make both the rail industry and government understand that this dispute will continue for as long as it takes, until we get a negotiated settlement.”

Network Rail’s chief negotiator Tim Shoveller accused the RMT of walking away from constructive talks and said it was conducting a political campaign rather than representing the interests of members.

There will also be no service on the Hounslow Loop between Saturday 13 to Tuesday 16 August, due to Network Rail undertaking a signalling upgrade. This will affect stations including Chiswick, Brentford, Kew Bridge, Isleworth and Syon Lane. A bus replacement service will be provided according to Network Rail.

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August 9, 2022