How rail strikes are affecting train services across the south east
The biggest rail strike in more than 30 years is underway with train operators across the south east running a significantly reduced service.
Govia Thameslink Railway, which is comprised of Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and the Gatwick Express is warning passengers to only travel if absolutely necessary during three days of industrial action.
Members of the RMT union are walking out today (June 21st), Thursday June 23 and Saturday June 25 in a dispute over pay and job losses.
Southern Rail said a reduced service is running between Tuesday and Sunday with lots of routes closed.
Trains will only be running on the Brighton mainline.
Dorset will see no train services at all and costal towns will also be cut off with operators planning to run a limited number of routes from a limited number of stations.
Four trains per hour are running between Brighton and London Victoria / London Bridge and two trains an hour between Brighton and Hove.
In the south east, 40 Kent stations will not have services until Wednesday afternoon.
Many of the stations affected are smaller and more rural, such as Martin Mill near Deal.
Some larger stations such as Ramsgate and Canterbury East and West, which are on the high speed route to London Victoria, will also be affected.
At Ashford, the normally bustling commuter hub with a frequent high-speed service into London, trains to the capital are running twice an hour.
Service disruption - what's happening on your route?
Most other services to locations such as Tonbridge, Ramsgate and Canterbury have been suspended.
The Eurostar is running a reduced service but is passing straight through Ashford, as stops were suspended during the pandemic.
Southern railway said this morning that a revised timetable is in place this week due to planned industrial action and are advising people to get paper tickets.
It tweeted: "It appears that eTickets have been knocked out on some routes and we are hoping to get this rectified as quickly as possible. In the mean time, please consider paper options."
Southeastern railway has asked people to "please not travel today, or on 23 and 25 June."
It tweeted: "Services will also be affected on the days following the industrial action, particularly in the mornings."
In Bournemouth, commuters turning up to the station have been met with locked doors
On non-strike days, around 60% of the timetable is planned to run, with services running to a Sunday schedule with no trains before 7:15am with trains out of place.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Tuesday said there will be meetings of the Cobra emergency committee on the rail strikes this week.
Mr Shapps said ministers were looking to change the law so firms could bring in agency workers to minimise disruption from strikes.
He told Sky News: "What we will do in the future is we’ll make sure we’ve put in some additional protections in place for the travelling public, for example through minimal service levels.
"That would mean on a day like today a certain level of service would still have to be run and through changes to allow for transferable workers, that’s a much quicker change we could take.
"For future strikes, both in this current but also for other strikes, we are going to ensure that the law is firmly on the passengers side. One of the ways is through transferable skills, or agency workers, as you call it."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to say ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that unions are "harming the very people they claim to be helping".
He is reportedly set to accuse unions of "driving away commuters who ultimately support the jobs of rail workers”, while also hitting businesses across the country.
He will say: "Too high demands on pay will also make it incredibly difficult to bring to an end the current challenges facing families around the world with rising costs of living.
"Now is the time to come to a sensible compromise for the good of the British people and the rail workforce."
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has warned the dispute could continue for months, accusing the government of preventing a settlement to the dispute on BBC's Newsnight.