South Western Railway (SWR) train services will be affected on Thursday, 16th and Saturday, 18th March because of industrial action by the RMT union.

Although strike action by Network Rail staff has been called off, strike action will still take place on South Western Railway and other train operators, which will still severely reduce the number of services that the company can operate.

As 40% of South Western Railway’s overall workforce is eligible to strike, including guards, dispatchers, and depot shunters, the company’s contingency managers will only be able to cover a limited number of services between 0700 and 1830 on both strike days, with trains that do run not stopping at all stations.

Because of long-planned engineering work on Saturday, 18th March, the usual strike day route between London Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside will not be available, and trains will terminate at Hounslow instead.

Trains between London Waterloo and Southampton Central will also be affected, as no trains will run between Woking and Basingstoke. There will be no rail-replacement bus services on either route.

On Thursday 16 March

Services will only operate between 0700 and 1830 and only on the following routes:

• Between London Waterloo and Southampton Central – two trains per hour in each direction;
• Between London Waterloo and Woking – four trains per hour in each direction;
• Between London Waterloo and Basingstoke – two trains per hour in each direction;
• Between London Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside – four trains per hour in each direction;
• Between Guildford and Woking – one train per hour in each direction;
• Between Salisbury and Basingstoke – one train per hour in each direction.

On Friday 17 March

Services will start later than usual at around 0700, and customers should check before travelling.

On Saturday 18 March

Services will only operate between 0700 and 1830 and only on the following routes::

• Between London Waterloo and Hounslow – two trains per hour in each direction;
• Between London Waterloo and Woking – four trains per hour in each direction;
• Between Basingstoke and Southampton Central – one train per hour in each direction;
• Between Woking and Guildford – one train per hour in each direction;
• Between Basingstoke and Salisbury- one train per hour in each direction;

Journey planners for Saturday, 18th March will be updated on Tuesday, 14th March.

Island Line

Normal service will operate on both strike days.

Shuttle services will operate throughout the day on both strike days as follows:

• Between Guildford and Woking, with the first train from Guildford in the morning running through to London Waterloo, and the last train to Guildford in the evening will run through from London Waterloo.
• Between Salisbury and Basingstoke, but on Thursday, 16th March only, the first train from Salisbury in the morning will run through to London Waterloo, and the last train to Salisbury in the evening will run through from London Waterloo. Because of engineering works between Basingstoke and Woking these through trains will not operate on Saturday, 18th March.

Information about the strikes including network maps showing the strike day services operating on Thursday, 16th and Saturday, 18th March can be found at www.southwesternrailway.com/strike

On Sunday 19 March, a normal Sunday timetable will operate.

Further strike action is planned for Thursday, 30th March and Saturday, 1st April, and service levels for those days will be confirmed as soon as possible.

South Western Railway’s Chief Operating Officer, Stuart Meek, said: “I’m afraid I have to once again urge our customers to only travel if absolutely necessary on Thursday 16 and Saturday 18 March, and if you do have to travel, please check your entire journey as long-planned engineering works will affect services on the Saturday.

“While we are pleased to be able to provide additional services for Guildford and Salisbury during this round of strikes, we’re sorry that large parts of our network will still be closed. Our contingency managers are stepping in to provide the best service we can, and we thank our customers for their ongoing patience during these latest RMT strikes.”