TRAIN services will this week be affected by the latest round of strikes, with a revised timetable in place.
The ASLEF union’s industrial action, which is an overtime ban, fused with engineering work means South Western Railway is advising passengers to check before they travel.
It starts today – May Day holiday Monday – with line closures in the Aldershot, Reading, Salisbury and Winchester areas.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 7, there will be a reduced service with large parts of the network closed.
Large parts of the network will be closed and trains will only run between: Basingstoke and Salisbury, London Waterloo and Basingstoke, London Waterloo and Feltham via Twickenham, London Waterloo and Guildford via Woking, and London Waterloo and Woking
There will be no services to stations such as Southampton Central, Portsmouth Harbour, Windsor & Eton Riverside, Reading or Exeter St Davids.
There will also be no service on the Island Line.
Those trains that do run will operate between 7am and 7pm – SWR warns there will be no services outside of these times.
The disruption continues through to Saturday, May 11, when additional engineering works will take place in the Ascot, Ash and Havant areas.
Customers are advised to only travel if their journeys are absolutely necessary.
If customers must travel, they should check before they travel using journey planners.
A South Western Railway spokesperson said: “We are sorry to announce that, due to a ban on overtime working by the ASLEF union,along with planned engineering work, there will be disruption on the Early May Bank Holiday, Monday May 6.
“A revised service will operate across our network so it is important that customers check before they travel.
“Strike action will take place the following day, Tuesday, May 7, and we are asking customers to only travel if their journeys are absolutely necessary.
“We will run a significantly reduced service with large parts of our network closed, and trains will only run between 7am and 7pm.”
They continued: “The overtime ban will then continue from Wednesday 8 to Saturday 11 May which will again mean a revised service. Engineering work will take place on Saturday 11 leading to further service changes, so once again, we are encouraging customers to check before travelling.
“We are very sorry for the disruption that this industrial action will cause and are very thankful for our customers’ continued patience.”
Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, said: “Our pay deals at the rail operating companies ran out in 2019. Train drivers have not had an increase in salary for five years.
“That is completely wrong.
“The employers – and the government – think we are going to give up and run away. They’re wrong. In the words of Tom Petty, we won’t back down…”
