Rail strike poised to cause big disruption

The RMT Union has called strike action for next Tuesday and Wednesday, which will affect Southern services.

Southern operates services linking Portsmouth, Southampton and Havant with West Sussex and London Victoria.

Southern says it wants to replace conductors with on-board supervisors, a new role which would focus on helping passengers with service information and checking tickets instead of safety responsibilities such as operating train doors.

A statement from Southern said: ‘The strike action is over our plans to improve customer service on board our trains and we are urging the union to talk to us to try to find a resolution.

‘Unfortunately, if this strike goes ahead it will have a significant impact on the number of trains we are able to run for our passengers.

‘Whilst we are working to run as many trains as possible, on some routes there will regrettably be no train services at all and on other routes we will only be able to run a reduced service. For further information to understand the impact on your journey, visit southernrailway.com/your-journey/strike.’