South Western Railway has announced more details about plans for national rail strike action by the RMT Union. Two 48-hour strikes are due to take place affecting South Western Railway, Network Rail and most other Train Operating Companies, affecting travel on Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th, and Friday 16th and Saturday 17th December.
As with previous strikes, SWR’s message to customers is to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary on these dates, to seek alternative arrangements if possible, and if they must travel to expect severe disruption. SWR expect there to be a knock-on impact to the start up of their services on Thursday 15th and Sunday 18th December.
The RMT has also instructed its members not to book on for any overtime from Sunday 18th December to Monday 2nd January, meaning some disruption is also likely to services on these days. Strike action has also been called for the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th January 2023 with late start up impacts expected on the 5th and 8th of January.
During the strikes a severely reduced timetable will run on the Woking to London Waterloo Line from 0730 to 1830 only, with the rest of the network closed entirely. Full information can be found here: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/industrial-action/strike-day-service-information.
As I have previously written, these strikes are incredibly disruptive and damaging to local residents and businesses. I am deeply disappointed the unions continue to pursue these actions, aiming for maximum disruption for families and businesses during the Christmas period.
If you do need to travel during this period I would urge you to check the status of local services in advance. Service updates are available on the SWR website here: https://www.journeycheck.com/swr/
