South Western Railway strikes – Longest train strike ever starts TODAY sparking 27 days of travel chaos
MILLIONS of South Western Railway passengers face travel hell as the longest EVER rail strike in British history starts today.
The 27-day walkout - throughout December - will leave 850 services a day delayed or cancelled on SWR services.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will heap pain on passengers in the run-up to the Christmas holiday.
The union says the the long-running dispute over guards on trains is over "defence of passenger safety" as commuters face a festive nightmare.
But South Western Railway insists it has done "everything we can and more to meet the RMT's outdated demands".
Around 1,850 trains run each day in the south west of England.
Passengers have been warned that only around half of services will run, including those to and from London Waterloo, the country's busiest railway station.
FESTIVE FURY
The strike will take place every day except the day of the general election on December 12, with trains also not running on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
A statement from SWR said: "RMT strike starts today and we will be running an amended timetable until the New Year.
"Peak services will be busier than normal and there may be queues at stations so please plan your journey in advance."
An SWR emergency timetable shows 1,000 out of 1,850 weekday trains are due to run.
SWR trains run between London Waterloo and Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth, Weymouth, Reading, Exeter and Bristol.
It also operates lines in Surrey, Berkshire, and Hampshire.
Commuters hit back at today's strike on social media as they battled into work during rush hour.
BBC Journalism Researcher Charlotte Baker tweeted: "Scenes on the train - nearly got crushed against a metal pole.
"Feel it’s only a matter of time before someone is hurt".
One SWR commuter wrote: "Here begins my South Western Rail advent calendar of moans.
"On the first day of train strikes my true love gave to me, a giant commuter game of sardines."
And another posted: "Day 1 of the SWR strikes and it’s nice and busy on the 7:03 from Woking to Waterloo.
"One person has fainted already from the overcrowding. Well done @SW_Help. Only a matter of time before it’s much worse."
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "RMT is angry and frustrated that a set of proposals that would have guaranteed the safety critical role of the guard have been kicked back in our faces."
An SWR spokesman said: "We have done everything we can and more to meet the RMT’s outdated demands with our promise of a guard on every train and a safety critical role for that guard.
"What we are not prepared to compromise on is the much-needed modernisation of the service with improved performance, safety and customer service that our new fleet of trains will deliver."
Great Western Railway, Heathrow Express and TfL Rail services will also be affected by rail chaos as London Paddington closes between December 24 and 27.
And Network Rail is planning to carry out 386 projects over the festive period - causing more misery for millions of passengers travelling for Christmas.
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