South Western Railway (SWR) has confirmed that it will run even fewer trains during forthcoming strikes on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 September than on previous strike days. The operator is advising people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.
Train drivers who are members of the ASLEF trade union will strike on Friday 1 September and then refuse to work overtime on Saturday 2 September, when members of all-grades trade union RMT will strike.
The dispute, which is well into its second year, is about pay, working conditions and jobs. The unions accuse the employers of failing to engage in serious talks or to make an offer which protects jobs and increases wages to keep pace with prices.
ASLEF's strike on Friday 1 September will be the first on the SWR network that includes main line drivers. Previous ASLEF strike action included only depot drivers, who bring trains in and out of service.
SWR will run an extremely limited service on that date, with fewer trains even than on previous strike days and with most of its network closed. Trains will run only between 0700 and 1900 as follows:
- London Waterloo to Woking – four trains per hour (tph) peak, two tph off-peak
- London Waterloo to Twickenham – two tph
- London Waterloo to Basingstoke – one tph
- Guildford to Woking – one tph
- No service on the Island Line.
The next day, Saturday 2 September, station staff and others will be striking, and drivers will not work overtime, which has a serious impact on the service because SWR relies on overtime working. The operator will run only a few trains on a small number of lines with large parts of the network closed. Trains will run only between 0700 and 1900 as follows:
- London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside via Hounslow – two tph
- Windsor & Eton Riverside to London Waterloo – two tph
- London Waterloo to Basingstoke – two tph
- London Waterloo to Southampton Central – two tph
- London Waterloo to Woking – four tph
- Salisbury to Basingstoke – one tph
- Guildford to Woking – one tph
- London Waterloo to Ascot via Twickenham – two tph
- Ascot to London Waterloo via Hounslow – two tph
- normal service on the Island Line.
SWR is advising anyone who does attempt to travel to check all legs of their journey, as the industrial action will also affect other train operating companies' services. Up-to-date information on SWR services can be found here.
Stuart Meek, South Western Railway's Chief Operating Officer, said: “This is the first time our network has been subject to full strike action by members of the ASLEF Union and, as a result, we are only able to offer an extremely limited service on Friday 1 September.
“Friday 1 September will be different to previous days of strike action with a lot fewer trains running and with the majority of the network closed. Our advice to customers is to not travel unless your journey is absolutely necessary. The few services we will be running are likely to be extremely busy and we may have to use queuing systems and crowd control measures.
“A significantly reduced service will operate the following day, Saturday 2 September, with more lines open but with large parts of the network still closed. Trains will only run between 0700 and 1900 and so our advice, again, is to only travel if journeys are absolutely necessary.
“If customers must travel on either day, they should check their entire journey before travelling, with other operators also impacted by strike action. We're really sorry for the disruption.”
Mick Whelan, ASLEF's general secretary, said: “We don't want to take this action but the train companies, and the government which stands behind them, have forced us into this place because they refuse to sit down and talk to us and have not made a fair and sensible pay offer to train drivers who have not had one for four years – since 2019 – while prices have soared in that time by more than 12%.
“The government appears happy to let passengers – and businesses – suffer in the mistaken belief that they can bully us into submission. They don't care about passengers – or Britain's railway – but they will not break us.
“Train drivers at these companies have not had a pay rise for four years – since 2019 = while inflation has rocketed, We haven't heard a word from the employers – we haven't had a meeting, a phone call, a text message, or an email – since Wednesday 26 April, and we haven't had any contact with the government since Friday 6 January. This shows how the contempt in which the companies, and the government, hold passengers and staff and public transport in Britain.
“They are happy to let this drift on and on. But we are determined to get a fair pay rise for men and women who haven't had one for four years while inflation has reached double figures. Our members, perfectly reasonably, want to be able to buy now what they could buy back in 2019.”
