Latest Strike on Southern Rail Now Underway
And 72 hour walkouts are announced over Christmas and New Year
After suspending its latest strike for one day on November 3 - London Poppy Day - at the request of the British Legion, members of the RMT Union are once again taking industrial action which will last throughout Friday and Saturday, November 4 and 5.
The union has also announced further strikes over the coming festive season. Its members are to stage strikes for three days from 22 December and three days from New Year's Eve.
Union members will strike from 12.01am on 22 December until 11.59pm on Christmas Eve and again from 12.0am on New Year's Eve until 11.59pm on 2 January.
The West London line is among those affected by these walkouts, with no service by Southern during the strike.
It runs through Hammersmith and Fulham stations Shepherd's Bush, Kensington Olympia, West Brompton and Imperial Wharf and some Southern trains, running from Milton Keynes Central to Clapham Junction serve this line alongside the more numerous Overground trains.
The Overground service is unaffected by the strikes but passengers are warned that trains are likely to be busier than usual.
So far this year the service has been cancelled, then reinstated on a limited peak time basis. Last month the full timetable was restored, taking pressure off the often overcrowded Overground trains.
The service is expect to be restored from Sunday 6 November.
The walkouts are 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 company has claimed that increasing numbers of staff are turning up for work during strikes but this has been denied by the union, which says the action is being solidly supported.
November 4, 2016
November 4, 2016
