Angry passengers tweet their frustration at five-day Southern rail strike

A sign inside Victoria Station in London announcing the strike action. Credit: PA

Workers on Southern Railway have walked out on the first day of a five-day strike, causing travel misery and chaos for hundreds of thousands of passengers.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are striking over objections to planned changes to the role of train conductors, which revolve around plans to have drivers operate train doors, many services have been cancelled.

The union has accused the government of "sabotaging" three days of talks last week at the conciliation service Acas, which broke down without agreement.

Southern's owners Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) said it had offered new assurances on jobs to the union, but will still press ahead with plans to change the role of conductors later this month.

The walk-out has left some parts of Surrey and Sussex with no train service, while other areas have a much-reduced service.

Passengers have taken to Twitter to vent their anger at Southern.

RMT union members strike outside Victoria Station in London. Credit: PA

Monday is not the first day of disrupted travel for commuters, as trains have been disrupted for weeks due to industrial action and a shortage of staff, which the company blamed on high levels of sickness.

While an emergency timetable was put in place, with Southern saying that it will run 60% of services, this was not good enough for some travellers.

Not all commuters were affected by the strike, and many left extra journey time.

Although in a minority, many supported the decision of RMT union members to strike.

While others took a more light-hearted approach...