South Western Railway announces 'severely reduced timetable' ahead of planned national strike
South Western Railway (SWR) has announced its "severely reduced timetable" ahead of a planned national strike next week.
The timetable will run during three days of industrial action on June 21, 23 and 25, with significant parts of the network closed.
It comes as thousands of rail workers are set to stage a three day walkout next Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in disputes over pay and jobs.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail, and 13 train operators have planned to walk out.
It has been described by the RMT union as 'the biggest railway strike in a generation.'
SWR is advising its customers to only travel by rail "if absolutely necessary" between June 21 and 26.
It says says customers should expect severe disruption and, if they have to travel, should seek to do so by other means.
SWR has issued its strike day timetable, which will provide a very limited service on the routes Network Rail have made available.
Trains that are running will be far less frequent compared to normal.
SWR’s reduced timetable will run from 07:15 to 18:30 on the three strike days, and will consist of:
Four trains per hour in each direction between Waterloo and Windsor via Hounslow
Two semi-fast trains per hour in each direction between Waterloo and Basingstoke
Four trains per hour in each direction between Waterloo and Woking
Two fast trains per hour in each direction between Waterloo and Southampton
Trains will not stop at all stations on these routes.
Island Line services will not be affected by the industrial action. There will be no SWR services across the rest of the network.
Significant disruption is also expected on Wednesday 22, Friday 24 and Sunday 26 June, and the network will not be operational before 07:30.
A Sunday level of service will operate through the day.
More than 2,100 SWR RMT members are set to take strike action next week.
Network Rail will provide contingency cover for critical roles including electrical control room operators, signallers, maintenance and response teams, but will not be able to cover the whole day.
The rail operators involved in the national strike are:
South Western Railway
Southeastern
Great Western Railway
Chiltern Railways
Cross Country Trains
Greater Anglia
LNER
East Midlands Railway
c2c
Northern Trains
Transpennine Express
Avanti West Coast
West Midlands Trains
South Western Railway’s Managing Director, Claire Mann, said: "The sheer scale of this planned industrial action severely limits the number of trains we can run and routes we can serve, which is reflected in the reduced timetable we have published today.
"With this disruption set to be so considerable, I regretfully urge customers to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary between Tuesday 21 and Sunday 26 June.
"I am sorry these strikes will cause such disruption and am grateful to our customers for their patience and understanding as the rail industry works to bring this damaging nationwide action to an end."
Network Rail route director Mark Killick said: "We’re so sorry for the disruption next week and we know how difficult this will be for our customers so soon after the pandemic.
"We’ve trained 250 staff so we can keep some of the busiest lines open, focussing our resources on the routes that can keep the largest numbers of customers and freight moving and serving vital locations such as hospitals.
"That said, we will not compromise on safety and the strike does mean that large parts of the network will be closed.
"We are continuing to work with unions to find a solution and will keep doing so. But we also have to be honest and accept that we have to change the way we work, to reflect the changes in society and travel patterns post pandemic.
"Again, I’d like to apologise to everyone who find their journeys disrupted next week and urge our customers to check before they travel."
Customers are urged to check the SWR website for latest information.