South Western Railway cancels HALF its 4,400 services in London this week as rail strike set to cause travel chaos
THOUSANDS of South Western Railway (SWR) train journeys will be cancelled this weekend thanks to ongoing industrial disputes over train guards.
1,900 services have been completely axed for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and hundreds more will face serious disruption.
The walkout will affect services terminating in London at Waterloo, Victoria, Clapham Juction and Richmond, with delays expected all over SWR's network.
Replacement bus services are being provided for some passengers including those commuting to the Bournemouth Air Festival.
But the rail operator is warning all of its customers to check the disrupted timetables before they travel as services are expected to be "much busier than normal".
The ongoing travel pandemonium is down to union bosses opposing SWR running driver-only operated (DOO) services.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union blame the strike on SWR, saying it refuses to engage in serious talks about the role of train guards.
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: "RMT is angry and frustrated that the company's cavalier and contemptuous approach to talks leaves us no option but to continue our programme of industrial action.
"We know that passengers will share that anger. There will be serious disruption throughout this weekend and the responsibility for that lies squarely with SWR and their Hong Kong and Aberdeen-based paymasters, who appear to have no interest in negotiating a settlement.
What's all the fuss about train guards?
Train guards have a number of different responsibilities on Britain's railways.
They provide information and assitance to passengers and check their tickets, while also making sure that the public are safe on their journey.
This means that they are also there to help in emergency situations and can take charge if the train driver is incapacitated.
Train guards are also there to moderate behaviour if someone is becoming violent or absuvie towards other passengers.
But the row comes from the use of driver-only operated (DOO) services, in which journeys are run with no train guard on board.
DOO operations make up around a third of Britain's railway services, but unions want that number decreased.
They say that services without train guards are unsafe, but train operating companies deem them an unneccessary expense on some services.
"RMT recently secured an agreement on Greater Anglia that enshrines the guard guarantee. Similar agreements have also been reached in Wales and Scotland. South Western Railway need to do the right thing and come to an agreement that secures a guard on their trains too."
A spokesperson for SWR said: "As the RMT persists with this unnecessary action on the final weekend of the summer holidays, we are working hard to keep customers moving and minimise disruption as much as possible.
"We have held a number of productive meetings with our local union representatives to discuss the best method of operation of trains to deliver the most passenger benefits in terms of performance and customer benefits.
"We have also offered repeated reassurances that we are guaranteeing jobs, salaries and terms and conditions of guards."
Additional 24-hour walkouts have been planned for September 8 and 15.
Affected passengers can find out how to claim money back on delayed trains here.
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