All you need to know ahead of the South Western Railway rail strikes

Staff at Network Rail and more than 2,100 SWR members of the RMT union are set to take strike action on Saturday, October 8, causing severe disruption across the entire weekend.

SWR customers are urged only to travel by rail if absolutely necessary on October 8 and 9.

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SWR will run a severely reduced service on Saturday, October 8 with significant parts of the network closed entirely.

A severely reduced service will run between 7.15am and 6.30pm on a limited number of routes for those who have no choice but to travel, and will consist of: 

• Four trains per hour in each way between London Waterloo and Woking 
• Two semi-fast trains per hour each way between London Waterloo and Basingstoke  
• Two trains per hour each way between London Waterloo and Hounslow  

Sunday, October 9 will also be significantly impacted by the strike; first trains across the network will start much later than usual.

South Western Railway’s performance and planning director Steve Tyler said: “I’m sorry that due to strike action we must urge our customers to only travel if absolutely necessary on Saturday 8 October and Sunday 9 October. Those needing to travel should seek to do so by other means.  

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“Large parts of our network will be closed on the strike day and there will be a late start up on the morning after. Those who must travel are urged to carefully check the times of first and last trains and avoid them if possible as they are likely to be very busy. 

“We are grateful to our customers for their continued cooperation, patience, and understanding as the rail industry works to bring this damaging nationwide strike action to an end.” 

Customers are urged to check the SWR website for latest information southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/industrial-action.