South western railway strike: when is five-day strike taking place?

Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) members have plans to walk out this week, following South Western Railway’s (SWR) “failure” to adhere to a request that a guard is present on each

train. The planned industrial action was due to take place in February as a resolution seemed likely - however, this is not the case. RMT said SWR had “rowed back” on promises, and there was

no guarantee for a guard to be present on trains in future. Commuters, racegoers travelling to Royal Ascot, a Metallica concert at Twickenham and music events at Hampton Court will all be

impacted by five days of rail strikes from today. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said union members were “angry and frustrated” as SWR were ”failing to bolt down an agreement that matches

up to our expectations on the guard guarantee”. Mr Cash also said: ”Worse than that, the company have refused to give assurances on the future operational role of the guard.” He also

critiqued SWR’s “insistence” that future schemes would be “governed” by the protection of company profits rather than that of “the travelling public”. An SWR spokesman said it was “very

disappointing” the RMT had decided to go ahead with the strike despite dates being pencilled in for more talks. Read More: Leeds train station CHAOS as trains cancelled and lines blocked

WHEN IS THE STRIKE TAKING PLACE? RMT members will walk out for five days beginning Tuesday, June 18 and running to and including Saturday, June 22. Due to the strike, there will be a reduced

service to London Waterloo from Portsmouth and Southampton. The line to Bristol will be completely suspended, as well as Guildford to Aldershot. More information can be found on the SWR

maps on this page and via the railway’s official website. Royal Ascot is taking place from June 18 until June 22, so trains may be busier for those looking to travel to the iconic race

course. Anyone travelling is advised to ensure extra time for their journey during this period as the service will be reduced from the usual four trains an hour from Waterloo to Ascot. Nick

Smith, Ascot’s director of racing and communications, said: “Our advice to racegoers travelling by train is to connect to the racecourse website which contains a link to SWR and the company

will be regularly updating their revised timetable over the course of the week. “Racegoers then have to make their own decision whether to endure the obvious delays the skeleton rail service

will cause and perhaps make alternative arrangements. “However, I do understand that SWR intend to be running as many trains as possible on the route at peak times. “The alternative

arrangements remain the same and they include travelling to the racecourse by road which is not ideal but does provide an alternative. “Ascot has the extra car parking capacity which will be

needed on site and those areas will, of course, be well signposted.” An SWR spokesman said: “It’s very disappointing that despite having had dates in the diary for what we hoped would be

further constructive talks, the RMT union decided to call disruptive strike action over the course of five days. “Only this week, we met with the union and agreed to arrange new dates to get

around the table and continue those talks. “However, they seem insistent on going ahead with their unnecessary strike next week which will impact our customers and colleagues alike.

“Clearly, they have decided to target popular events such as Royal Ascot with this cynical action which is driven by internal RMT politics. “Passengers are strongly advised to plan their

travel in advance as services are likely to be busier than usual because of the strike action. “Rail replacement services and ticket acceptance on other bus and rail networks have been

organised where possible, whilst fans attending events at Twickenham, Hampton Court, Royal Ascot, and elsewhere, are advised to allow extra time for their travel.”