Limited Service on South Western Railway During Strike


Large parts of network shut due to industrial action in May

An ASLEF picket at Waterloo during the last strike.
An ASLEF picket at Waterloo during the last strike. Picture: ASLEF

April 30, 2024

South Western Railway (SWR) has announced that most of its network will be closed during forthcoming industrial action.

Drivers from the ASLEF union are striking over pay on Tuesday 7 May and trains will run only on a limited number of lines that day.

As during the previous strike on Monday 8 April, stations on the Hounslow Loop including Chiswick, Brentford, Syon Lane, Kew Bridge and Isleworth will be closed. There will be shuttle services from Waterloo to Basingstoke, Feltham via Twickenham, Guildford via Woking and Woking only.

The significantly reduced service from Feltham will call at Putney and Wandsworth Town. Wimbledon will be served by trains out of Woking.

Trains will only run between 7am and 7pm.

There will be no services to stations such as Southampton Central, Portsmouth Harbour, Windsor & Eton Riverside, Reading or Exeter St Davids.

On Monday 6 May, the Early May Bank Holiday, a revised service will run due to both an overtime ban by the ASLEF union and engineering work in the Aldershot, Reading, Salisbury and Winchester areas

From Wednesday 8 to Saturday 11 May, a revised service will again run due to the overtime ban.

Journey planners expected to be up to date by Saturday 4 May at the latest.

You are advised to only travel if their journeys are absolutely necessary an check journey planners before departure.

A South Western Railway spokesperson said, “We are sorry to announce that, due to a ban on overtime working by the ASLEF union, along with planned engineering work, there will be disruption on the Early May Bank Holiday, Monday 6 May. A revised service will operate across our network, so it is important that customers check before they travel.

“Strike action will take place the following day, Tuesday 7 May, and we are asking customers to only travel if their journeys are absolutely necessary. We will run a significantly reduced service with large parts of our network closed, and trains will only run between 7am and 7pm.

“The overtime ban will then continue from Wednesday 8 to Saturday 11 May which will again mean a revised service. Engineering work will take place on Saturday 11 leading to further service changes, so once again, we are encouraging customers to check before travelling.
“We are very sorry for the disruption that this industrial action will cause and are very thankful for our customers' continued patience.”

Strike action will impact other train operators on different days during the industrial action period.


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