South Western Railway (SWR) has issued a revised timetable of much reduced services covering the period from Sunday, 18th December to Monday, 2nd January because of disruption caused by industrial action by members of the RMT and TSSA unions.

Further industrial action, including strike action, by the RMT will take place on 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th January 2023.

On Sunday, 18th December there will be a severely reduced service on a very limited number of routes, and only between 0700 to 2200 only, because of the knock-on effect of RMT strike action and long-planned engineering works. The only services to run on this day are as follows, and trains will not stop at some stations on these routes:

• Four trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Woking.
• Two trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Basingstoke.
• Two trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Southampton Central.
• One train per hour between Basingstoke and Salisbury.
• There will be no services across the rest of South Western Railway on 18th December.

On Christmas Eve, Saturday, 24th December, there will be fewer services and they will finish earlier than usual. The last services on some routes from London Waterloo will leave as early as midday, whilst all services will finish and trains taken out of service by 1500.

On Tuesday, 27th December, services will start much later than normal, from around 1200, and again there will be fewer services.

On other days during the period of industrial action, from 19th to 23rd December and from 28th December to 2nd January, services on South Western Railway will only run between 0700 and 2200, and some parts of the network will be closed completely so customers should check their whole journey before they travel.

South Western Railway’s advice for travel between 18th December and 2nd January is as follows:

• Sunday 18th December – only travel if absolutely necessary.
• Monday 19th to Friday 23rd December – check before you travel.
• Saturday 24th December – only travel if absolutely necessary.
• Sunday 25th and Monday 2nd December – no services.
• Tuesday 27th December – only travel if absolutely necessary.
• Wednesday 28th to Monday 2nd January – check before you travel.

The latest travel advice for each day of the industrial action is available online at www.southwesternrailway.com/strike

South Western Railway’s Performance and Planning Director, Steve Tyler, said: “We are very sorry that the RMT overtime ban will severely disrupt our customers’ travel plans throughout the Christmas period and into the New Year.

“While not a strike, the overtime ban limits the number of trains we can get into service each day and we have had to make some difficult decisions to be able to provide a reliable and consistent service throughout the period.

“We are urging customers to check their entire journey before setting off and thank them for their patience and cooperation during this damaging industrial action by the RMT.”