On Saturday 25th June the third day of strike action will impact the railway services within Ash. Matthew Evans (Senior Stakeholder and Public Affairs Manager) from South South Western Railway has issued an updated statement (below) to ensure that weekend travelers are aware and make plans accordingly. Customers are urged to check the SWR website for the latest information at www.southwesternrailway.com/strike.
South Western Railway reminder: only travel if absolutely necessary until Sunday 26 June
- Strikes are taking place today and Saturday 25 June, with limited services only running between 07:15 and 18:30 and large parts of the network closed
- A late-starting Sunday service (fewer trains) will run across the network on Friday 24 June and Sunday 26 June, with no trains before 07:30
- Those who have no choice but to travel are urged to check times carefully via: nationalrail.co.uk
South Western Railway (SWR) is reminding customers to only travel by train if absolutely necessary for the rest of this week.
As the weekend approaches, the company has reiterated that there will be severe disruption across the network, and on strike days there will be no trains running to Portsmouth or beyond Southampton to the coast.
This comes as further nationwide RMT strikes are taking place today (23 June) and Saturday (25 June), with a severely reduced service provided only on the routes that Network Rail has made available. Large parts of the SWR network will be shut down completely.
The knock-on effects of each strike mean that a late starting Sunday level of service will run on both Friday (24 June) and Sunday (26 June), causing significant disruption.
On these two days, the first trains on the network will leave after 07:30, with first services from many stations much later. This is due to the signal and maintenance workers being unavailable until later than normal and the challenge of getting trains and people in the right place following the early shutdown on strike days.
SWR is re-issuing the travel advice after commuters had to contend with disrupted services and busy stations and trains on Wednesday 22 June; the day after the RMT’s first strike.
Customers who have to travel are able to check trains times via www.nationalrail.co.uk, but should consider avoiding travelling on the first and last trains of each day as these services are set to be very busy.
Commenting, SWR’s Managing Director, Claire Mann, said:
“We’re sorry to have to ask our customers to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary until Sunday 26 June as nationwide RMT strikes are causing major disruption on our network every day this week.
“We know that many people have planned to use our trains for leisure travel this weekend, but Saturday’s strike action means we will be running a very limited service.
“Customers who do travel on Saturday risk being stranded after the network shuts down at 18:30 and should double check their last trains.
“We’re sorry to those whose weekend plans will be hit and thank them for their patience and understanding”.
ENDS
Further Information
- Please see map for strike day services attached
- Map and timetable PDFs are available at: www.southwesternrailway.com/strike
- Journey planners are likely to be updated 2-4 days in advance
- On 22, 24 and 26 June, SWR will run a late starting Sunday level of service (from 0730). The timetables are not yet available, but customers can refer to existing Sunday service timetables here: www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/timetables
- Summary of services running on strike days:
| Waterloo to Southampton | Waterloo to Woking | Waterloo to Basingstoke | Waterloo to Windsor |
| 2 fast trains per hour each way | 4 trains per hour each way | 2 trains per hour each way | 4 trains per hour each way |
| First train from Waterloo: 0730 | First train from Waterloo: 0720 | First train from Waterloo: 0715 | First train from Waterloo: 0715 |
| Last train from Waterloo: 1700 | Last train from Waterloo: 1750 | Last train from Waterloo: 1715 | Last train from Waterloo: 1722 |
| First train from Southampton: 0730 | First train from Woking: 0718 | First train from Basingstoke: 0724 | First train from Windsor: 0730 |
| Last train from Southampton: 1659 | Last train from Woking: 1748 | Last train from Basingstoke: 1654 | Last train from Windsor: 1730 |
| Services will call at: Waterloo Clapham Junction Woking Basingstoke Winchester Eastleigh Southampton Airport Southampton Central |
Services will call at: Waterloo Clapham Junction Wimbledon Surbiton Esher Hersham Walton-on-Thames Weybridge Byfleet & New Haw West Byfleet Woking |
Services will call at: Waterloo Clapham Junction Surbiton Woking Brookwood Farnborough Fleet Winchfield Hook Basingstoke |
Services will call at: Waterloo Vauxhall Clapham Junction Wandsworth Town Putney Barnes Barnes Bridge Chiswick Kew Bridge Brentford Syon Lane Isleworth Hounslow Feltham Ashford Staines Wraysbury Sunnymeads Datchet Windsor & Eton Riverside |
- Some services at the start and end of each strike day will run outside of this standard pattern
- The Island Line is not subject to strike action and will operate as usual.
