Southern 'Working Hard' to Get Trains Up and Running
Limited service today through H&F after this week's 48 hour strike
Southern Rail says it is working hard to get trains back up and running after this week's 48 hour strike by members of the RMT union.
The company has apologised to customers for disruption to travel plans and thanked them for "bearing with us".
Customers are advised to check for an claim the compensation they are entitled to here.
The restored services include a limited number of trains running on the West London line through Hammersmith and Fulham stations Shepherd's Bush, Kensington Olympia, West Brompton and Imperial Wharf.
This service runs alongside the Overground service, and normally runs three or four trains during rush hours and one per hour at other times and continues from Shepherd's Bush to Wembley Central, Harrow and Wealdstone then on to Watford Junction and Milton Keynes Central.
During the summer, this service has been cancelled altogether but last month Southern announced that it had reinstated a limited peak hour service between Clapham Junction and Watford Junction, with two trains running in each direction during the morning rush hour and two more in each direction during the afternoon rush hour.
A normal service is expected to be restored on Saturday and Sunday, alongside the Overground service.
The walkout is due to a continuing dispute between the uion and Southern's parent company Govia Thameslink over planned changes to the role of conductors on trains. The company plans to make drivers responsible for closing doors - something that already happens on many services across the country.
The RMT held a ballot of members on the network which they say showed that 70% of members were in favour of strike action and 80% approved industrial action short of a strike.
'On-board supervisors' are due to be introduced onto the trains instead of conductors with drivers becoming responsible for the operation of the doors. The union say that a second person needs to be on the train at all times for safety reasons.
On Thursday RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said; "RMT members on Southern stand solid, determined and united again this morning on the second day of this phase of strike action.
"Our message that rail safety and access to transport services has to be put before the profits of Govia Thameslink is ringing out loud and clear.
"The union thanks the travelling public for their understanding and support as we stand up against this failing and greedy rail operator in defence of the safety of passengers and staff alike.
"Southern is a train operator that has chosen to declare war on both fare-payers and the workforce. Our message to rail users across the Southern network is clear - our fight is your fight. "
September 9, 2016
