Due to the planned national strike, SWR customers are urged only to travel by rail if absolutely necessary between 18 and 21 August

SWR will run a severely reduced service on Thursday 18 August and Saturday 20 August, with significant parts of the network closed entirely

The severely reduced service will run between 07:15 and 18:30 on a limited number of routes for those who have no choice but to travel

Friday 19 and Sunday 21 August will be significantly impacted by the strike; first trains across the network will start much later than usual

South Western Railway (SWR) is urging customers only to travel by rail if absolutely necessary between Thursday 18 and Sunday 21 August due to the planned industrial action.

Customers should expect severe disruption on the network and, if they must travel on any of those days, should seek to do so by other means.

SWR has published its strike days service levels for Thursday 18 August and Saturday 20 August, which will provide a severely reduced service on the routes Network Rail has made available.

Significant parts of the network will be closed entirely and those trains that are running will be far less frequent and much busier compared to normal.

Due to the impact of the strike days, customers are also urged only to travel if absolutely necessary on Friday 19 and Sunday 21 August, when first trains will start much later than usual across the network and are likely to be very busy.

Staff at Network Rail and more than 2,100 SWR members are set to take strike action on Thursday 18 and Saturday 20 August, causing severe disruption.

Network Rail will provide contingency cover for critical roles including electrical control room operators, signallers, maintenance, and response teams, but will not be able to cover the whole day.

SWR’s reduced timetable will run from 07:15 to 18:30 on the 18 and 20 August strike days, and will consist of:

Four trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside via Hounslow
Two semi-fast trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Basingstoke
Four trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Woking
Two fast trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Southampton Central

Trains will not stop at all the stations on these routes. There will be no SWR services across the rest of the network.

TfL Underground and Overground services will be affected by strikes all day on Friday 19 August, with some bus services disrupted on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 August. Connections with SWR services in London are likely to be impacted, or not run at all.

SWR will not be affected by the planned ASLEF strike action on Saturday 13 August, but some other train companies will be, so customers should check before they travel.

South Western Railway’s Commercial Director, Peter Williams, said:

“Please only travel if absolutely necessary between Thursday 18 and Sunday 21 August as strike action will severely impact our services. Those who must travel are urged to carefully check the times of first and last trains and seek alternative means of travel.

“The scale of the action will be incredibly disruptive for our customers with large parts of our network closed on strike days and a late start up on the morning after each strike day. First trains will run much later than usual and are likely to be very busy, so please travel later in the day if you can.

“We are sorry that strikes will again cause such disruption. We are grateful to our customers for their continued cooperation, patience, and understanding as the rail industry works to bring this damaging nationwide strike action to an end.”

Customers are urged to check the SWR website for latest information here.

Further information:

Please see the map above for strike day services.

More information is available at: www.southwesternrailway.com/strike

Journey planners are likely to be updated 2-4 days in advance of the strike period.

Summary of the services running on 18 and 20 August:

Waterloo to Southampton	Waterloo to Woking	Waterloo to Basingstoke	Waterloo to Windsor
2 fast trains per hour each way	4 trains per hour each way	2 trains per hour each way	4 trains per hour each way
First train from Waterloo: 0730	First train from Waterloo: 0720	First train from Waterloo: 0715	First train from Waterloo: 0715
Last train from Waterloo: 1700	Last train from Waterloo: 1705	Last train from Waterloo: 1745	Last train from Waterloo: 1722
First train from Southampton: 0730	First train from Woking: 0718	First train from Basingstoke: 0724	First train from Windsor: 0730
Last train from Southampton: 1659	Last train from Woking: 1748	Last train from Basingstoke: 1654	Last train from Windsor: 1730
Services will call at: London Waterloo Clapham Junction Woking Basingstoke Winchester Eastleigh Southampton Airport Southampton Central	Services will call at: London Waterloo Clapham Junction Wimbledon Surbiton Esher Hersham Walton-on-Thames Weybridge Byfleet & New Haw West Byfleet Woking	Services will call at: London Waterloo Clapham Junction Surbiton Woking Brookwood Farnborough Fleet Winchfield Hook Basingstoke	Services will call at: London Waterloo Vauxhall Clapham Junction Wandsworth Town Putney Barnes Barnes Bridge Chiswick Kew Bridge Brentford Syon Lane Isleworth Hounslow Feltham Ashford Staines Wraysbury Sunnymeads Datchet Windsor & Eton Riverside