No trains through Salisbury for five days

Saturday, 31 December 2022 00:00

The latest round of strikes on the railway by several unions means there will be no train service through Salisbury for five days next week.

National strike action by the RMT union on Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 will mean a severely reduced service on infrastructure made available by Network Rail.

On Thursday, 5th, national strike action by the ASLEF union will affect depot drivers on SWR and mainline drivers at GWR and significantly limit the number of trains that can be brought into service.

This will again mean a severely reduced service operating as it is on other strike days.

Significant parts of the network will be closed entirely between Tuesday, 3rd and Saturday, January 7th. Those trains that are running will be far less frequent and much busier than normal.

Due to the impact of these strike days, customers are also advised to check before travelling on Sunday, 8th January, when the first trains will start from around 07:30 and are likely to be very busy. A regular weekend timetable will operate on Sunday, 8th January, after this late start-up.

South Western Railway’s Managing Director, Claire Mann, said:

"I’m sorry that due to the damaging national strike action by both the RMT and ASLEF unions, a severely reduced service will operate on our network. We must urge our customers to only travel if absolutely necessary between Tuesday 3 and Sunday 8 January.

"Large parts of our network will be closed between Tuesday 3, and Sunday, 8 January.

"We share our customers’ frustration over this nationwide strike action and the impact it has on our network and services. We are grateful to our customers for their continued cooperation, patience, and understanding as the rail industry works to bring this damaging strike action to an end."

More information can be found on both the GWR and South Western Railway websites:

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/industrial-action

https://www.gwr.com/strike

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