15.02.18
SWR plans to run full service despite weekend-long RMT strike
South Western Railway (SWR) says it plans to run a full service over the upcoming weekend despite the RMT’s planned four-day strike.
The union has confirmed that action will go ahead amid ongoing disputes about the safety of trains running driver-only operation (DOO).
The strike will begin on Friday morning and run until the end of services on Monday, but SWR has announced it intends to continue running trains as normal to “minimise the effect” of the plans.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said the actions of the operator were “frankly disgraceful” and claimed the union had repeatedly tried to have talks with SWR, which had not been forthcoming.
He added that the union knew the strike would have a “serious impact on services” but shifted responsibility onto the operator for refusing to discuss the future of “safety-critical” guards.
The ongoing issue of DOO train management has seen the RMT enforce strike action on a number of recent occasions, including threats of action across five separate franchises.
However, an SWR spokesperson said: “We plan to run our full service on all four days and will do everything we can to minimise any effect this strike action may have.
“We do however advise passengers to check before they travel.”
SWR faced criticism earlier this week from the ORR after passengers complained that some of the tickets offered by the operator in late January were for trains that were no longer running.
In a letter to the TOC’s managing director, Andy Mellors, dated 23 January, John Larkinson, ORR’s director of railway markets and economics, wrote that the regulator had “serious concerns regarding the information that SWR provides to consumers about its rail services.”
Top image: SWR
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