South Western Railway warns passengers to only travel is necessary during upcoming strikes

South Western Railway has urged passengers to only travel if absolutely necessary due to strike action between Tuesday 3rd and Sunday 8th January 2023.

Strike action by the RMT Union on Tuesday 3rd, Wednesday 4th, Friday 6th and Saturday 7th January means a reduced service will be in place, with trains only running between 07:15 and 18:30.

ASLEF strike action on Thursday 5th January will mean a reduced service as the strike action affects depot drivers and limits the amount of trains that ca be brought into service.

Additionally, this strike action will affect Island Line drivers so no service will operate on the 5th January.

A regular weekend timetable will operate on Sunday 8 January after a late start up.

The reduced timetable will include:

• Four trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside
• Two semi-fast trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Basingstoke
• Four trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Woking
• Two fast trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Southampton Central

Additionally, trains will not stop at all stations on the routes above. No services will operate across the rest of the network.

South Western Railway's Managing Director, Claire Mann, said: “I'm sorry that due to the damaging, national strike action by both the RMT and ASLEF unions, a severely reduced service will operate on our network. We must urge our customers to only travel if absolutely necessary between Tuesday 3 and Sunday 8 January.

“Large parts of our network will be closed between Tuesday 3 and Sunday 8 January. On Sunday 8 January there will be a late start to services and so we urge our customers to carefully check their journeys, before they travel, using journey planners.

“We share our customers' frustration over this nationwide strike action and the impact it has on our network and services. We are grateful to our customers for their continued cooperation, patience, and understanding as the rail industry works to bring this damaging strike action to an end.”