Southern rail strike: Commuters set for misery as hundreds of services cancelled

Southern: Conductors have voted to strike
Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Mark Chandler18 May 2016

A fresh strike on Southern trains is set to cause further misery for commuters on Wednesday and lead to hundreds of services being cancelled.

Members of the RMT union will stage a 24-hour walkout over the role of conductors and Southern has warned there will be no service on some routes and a limited number of trains on others, describing the disruption as "totally unnecessary".

Southern said it expects to run two thirds of its 2,100 services, but warned there will be a "significant" impact all day.

Several routes will have no service, with only a limited number of trains between 7.30am and 6pm on others.

The two sides blamed each other for the dispute over the role of conductors and for lack of progress since a previous strike last month.

But the union published a survey showing that most rail passengers opposed plans to remove guards from trains.

The RMT said the poll of Southern passengers found that three out of four were concerned about the safety of travelling on trains which did not have a guard, and a similar number opposed the removal of guards so that trains were driver-only.

RMT general secretary, Mick Cash, said: "Our members have been backed into a corner by this aggressive and unpopular company and have had no option whatsoever but to fight to defend the safety-critical role of the guard on these rammed-out and unreliable Southern routes.

"This dispute is a battle between the very basic principles of rail safety and the relentless drive by Southern to milk the franchise for every penny they can get."

Southern has been handing out leaflets to passengers warning of the disruption caused by the strike as well as from "unprecedented" levels of sickness.

The company says it is "evolving" the role of conductors on some trains so on-board staff will no longer be responsible for closing doors.

It claims the changes will provide benefits to passengers because there will be more visible staff able to help.

Dyan Crowther, Chief Operating Officer of Southern's owners, Govia Thameslink, said: "Despite repeated efforts over six months, the RMT seem unwilling to talk properly about this. Our door remains open to talks but they seem determined to inflict another day of misery on Southern commuters.

"The only thing that changes is the new conductors will no longer close the doors, a task that passes to the driver with the aid of CCTV. This will cost no-one their jobs, and frees up staff on board trains to better serve passengers.

"We wholeheartedly agree with our passengers who want staff to remain on trains and that's exactly why as many services will have staff on board as they do today.”

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

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