Andy Munns
SOUTH Western Railway is reminding customers that it will not operate trains beyond Basingstoke on Friday, 1 September, due to ASLEF union strike action.
Friday, 1st September, will be the first day of the ASLEF union strike action that affects SWR’s main line drivers. Previous ASLEF union strike dates were limited to depot drivers, who bring trains in and out of service.
This means there will be no train service at all through Salisbury.
With far fewer mainline drivers available, SWR will operate a much different timetable to previous strike days.
During the previous strike action, SWR served stations to Salisbury and Southampton Central; however, on Friday, 1st September, there will be no services to or from either destination. There will also be no service on the Island Line.
An extremely limited service will operate on a small number of lines across the rest of the SWR network, with trains only running between 0700 and 1900.
The majority of the SWR network will be closed, and only the following services will run: 
- Waterloo to Woking – 2 trains per hour (tph)  (4tph during peak hours)
- Waterloo to Twickenham – 2tph 
- Waterloo to Basingstoke – 1tph  
- Guildford to Woking – 1tph 
Customers are advised that there will be far fewer services than previous strike days and should only travel if absolutely necessary. 
An RMT union strike then takes place on Saturday, 2nd September. Whilst more of the network will be open than Friday 1 September, with services between London Waterloo and Southampton Central, overall there will be a significantly reduced service and trains will only run between 0700 and 1900.
Customers are again advised only to travel if absolutely necessary.
Journey planners for both Friday, 1st and Saturday, 2nd September, are now up to date. Customers should check their entire journey before travelling, as other train operators will also be affected.
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. 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.”
