Southern releases service plan for 48-hour RMT conductors’ strike

Southern has released details of the service it plans to run during the RMT’s planned two-day strike this week (September 7 and 8). This latest industrial action from the RMT takes place the same week that Southern reinstates over a third of the train services that had earlier been removed from its timetable.

If the strike goes ahead, then by using contingency conductors, Southern expects to run almost 60% of its normal full timetable (almost 65% of its temporary revised timetable) on Wednesday 7 September and Thursday 8 September. There will be extra staff at stations to help passengers and arrangements in place for passengers to use alternative transport providers.

There will be a restricted service, with many routes having fewer trains, and, unfortunately, on some routes there will be no service at all. Trains on many routes will start late and finish early (0700/0730-1800).

Passengers can find out details of how they may be affected so they can plan their journeys at www.southernrailway.com/rmtstrike.

Southern Passenger Services Director Alex Foulds said:
“Passengers will be rightly dismayed that the RMT has chosen to disrupt services yet again.

“This two-day strike will achieve nothing. After many months of trying to reach agreement with the RMT, we are now moving forward with our plans for the benefit of customers and we urge the RMT to join us in putting passengers first.

“We have guaranteed all our onboard staff a job until the end of the franchise, with no reduction in salary. Our plans are safe, and will mean fewer cancelled trains. We are sorry that our passengers will once again suffer because of RMT intransigence, and we urge the union to work with us to find a sensible way forward.”

This week, Southern put 119 trains back into its temporary weekday timetable, restoring the entire inner London metro service so that almost all London Bridge peak trains are now running, and tripling the number of trains operating on the West London Line.

The temporary timetable was introduced with 341 fewer trains on July 11 following unprecedented sickness levels among traincrew. Remaining train services will be reintroduced into the Southern timetable incrementally in the coming weeks.

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