South Western Railway strike 2019: December industrial action may affect Christmas train travel

By Lloyd Bent
Published 6th Nov 2019, 12:11 BST
Updated 6th Nov 2019, 12:12 BST
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Rail workers at South Western Railway (SWR) have announced that they are to go on strike for the majority of December, potentially causing chaos for Christmas travellers.

The strike is over a row about guards on the trains and will see staff walk out from 2 December 2019 until 2 January 2020, only returning to work on the day of the General Election.

While the strike is not technically taking place on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, the company does not run services on those dates.

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The RMT union cited SWR’s “unremitting failure to give assurances that their new operational model won’t move to Driver Controlled Operation – with the role of the guard butchered completely” and said, “The union has been left with no alternative but to call further industrial action.”

South Western Railway workers are striking over December.South Western Railway workers are striking over December.
South Western Railway workers are striking over December.

When will the strikes take place?

Workers will walk out from midnight on Monday 2 December until midnight on Wednesday 11 December.