SOUTH Western Railway has urged customers to travel by rail “only if absolutely necessary,” ahead of strikes set for early November.
With three days of industrial action planned by Network Rail and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers between Saturday and Thursday, November 5-10, SWR is warning passengers of severe disruption.
Strikes are due to take place on Saturday, November 5, Monday, November 7, and Wednesday, November 9, with the days between and after also heavily impacted.
During the planned strikes, a severely reduced service will run across the SWR network, with only limited routes running and much of the network closed entirely.
On all three days of Network Rail strike action, services will only run on certain routes between 7.15am and 6.30pm.
Four trains an hour will run in each direction between London Waterloo and Windsor and Eton Riverside.
Two semi-fast trains will run per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Basingstoke, and four trains per hour will run in each direction between London Waterloo and Woking.
Two fast trains per hour will run in each direction between London Waterloo and Southampton Central.
Passengers are advised that services will not stop at all stations along these routes, and the rest of the network will not be operating.
Strikes by members of the RMT on London overground and London Underground on Thursday, November 10, mean that connections to SWR services could be disrupted or cancelled.
As a result of the strike action, members of the public are encouraged to travel only if absolutely necessary and to seek other means of travel than rail wherever possible.
South Western Railway’s performance and planning director, Steve Tyler, said:
“I’m sorry that due to strike action we must urge our customers to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary from Saturday 5 to Thursday 10 November.
“Large parts of our network will be closed on strike days and there will be a late start up on the morning after.
“Those who must travel are urged to carefully check the times of first and last trains and avoid them if possible.
“We appreciate that customers will be eager to enjoy the fireworks for Guy Fawkes Night, but last trains for the day will depart early at around 1700 and will be very busy.
“Please check train times carefully to avoid getting stranded as the network will be shut for the rest of the evening.
“We are grateful to our customers for their continued cooperation, patience, and understanding as the rail industry works to bring this damaging nationwide strike action to an end.”
