South Western Railway is urging customers only to travel by rail if absolutely necessary on the planned strike days – Tuesday June 21, Thursday June 23 and Saturday June 25 – and throughout that week.  

Customers should expect severe disruption and, if they have to travel, should seek to do so by other means.  

This comes as SWR published their strike day timetable, which will provide a very limited service on the routes Network Rail have made available.

The reduced timetable will see significant parts of the network closed entirely and those trains that are running will be far less frequent compared to normal.   

Network Rail and more than 2,100 SWR RMT members are set to take strike action on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, causing severe disruption.

Network Rail will provide contingency cover for critical roles including electrical control room operators, signallers, maintenance and response teams, but will not be able to cover the whole day. 

SWR’s reduced timetable will run from 07:15 to 18:30 on the three strike days, and will consist of:  

  • Four trains per hour in each direction between Waterloo and Windsor via Hounslow 
  • Two semi-fast trains per hour in each direction between Waterloo and Basingstoke  
  • Four trains per hour in each direction between Waterloo and Woking 
  • Two fast trains per hour in each direction between Waterloo and Southampton 

Trains will not stop at all stations on these routes. Island Line services will not be affected by the industrial action. There will be no SWR services across the rest of the network. 

Significant disruption is also expected on Wednesday, June 22, Friday June 24 and Sunday June 26, when the network will not be operational before 07:30 and a Sunday level of service will operate throughout the day.  

South Western Railway’s Managing Director, Claire Mann, said: “The sheer scale of this planned industrial action severely limits the number of trains we can run and routes we can serve, which is reflected in the reduced timetable we have published today.  

“With this disruption set to be so considerable, I regretfully urge customers to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary between Tuesday 21 and Sunday 26 June. 

“I am sorry these strikes will cause such disruption and am grateful to our customers for their patience and understanding as the rail industry works to bring this damaging nationwide action to an end.” 

Customers are urged to check the SWR website for latest information at www.southwesternrailway.com/strike