SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) has confirmed its strike day services for Friday, September 1 and Saturday, September 2.
The strike action will see a reduced number of services, with only two trains per hour running between London Waterloo and Southampton Central on September 2.
In addition to the RMT Union (National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) strike action taking place tomorrow, Saturday August 26, members of the ASLEF Union (The Train Drivers’ Union) will take strike action on Friday, September 1.
This will be followed by an ASLEF Union ban on overtime working, together with strike action by members of the RMT Union on Saturday, September 2.
Stuart Meek, South Western Railway’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “This is the first time our network has been subject to full strike action by members of the ASLEF Union and, as a result, we are only able to offer an extremely limited service on Friday 1 September.
“Friday 1 September will be different to previous days of strike action with a lot fewer trains running and with the majority of the network closed.”
Friday September 1 will be the first strike action on the SWR network involving main line drivers.
Previous days of ASLEF Union strike action was limited to depot drivers, who bring trains in and out of service.
READ MORE: Key info ahead of August 26 RMT strike
With a shortage of main line drivers, SWR will run an extremely limited service with the majority of the network closed.
Customers are advised that there will be fewer trains than on previous strike days, with trains running between the hours of 7am and 7pm.
There will be no service on the island line on Friday, September 1, followed by a normal service the following day.
The Southampton Central to London Waterloo service will only run two services per hour on Saturday, September 2.
Though a normal service will be in operation on the route on Friday, September 1, only once per hour will the service stop at Basingstoke from London Waterloo.
SWR has warned: “If customers must travel, they should check their entire journey as other train operators will be affected on both days of strike action.”
Mr Meek added: “Our advice to customers is to not travel unless your journey is absolutely necessary.
“The few services we will be running are likely to be extremely busy and we may have to use queuing systems and crowd control measures.
“A significantly reduced service will operate the following day, Saturday 2 September, with more lines open but with large parts of the network still closed.
“Trains will only run between 0700 and 1900 and so our advice, again, is to only travel if journeys are absolutely necessary.
“If customers must travel on either day, they should check their entire journey before travelling, with other operators also impacted by strike action. We're really sorry for the disruption."
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