Southern Rail strike January 2017: Passengers warned over travelling during this week's walkouts

Francesca Gillett9 January 2017

Commuters should only get Southern trains on strike days if their journey is vital, the rail company is warning ahead of a week of crippling walkouts on London’s transport network.

Southern Rail will run no services on Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday because of walkouts in a long-running dispute over driver-only trains.

Train services will also be disrupted for the rest of the week because of a ban on overtime.

Passengers should try and work from home or stagger journeys to avoid being hit by long queues and delays, the train company said.

Although some bus and coach services are being run from nine Southern stations for people “with no other option”, space on the buses will be limited.

Southern: Rail strikes caused chaos in the run-up to Christmas
PA

All Gatwick Express services will be severely disrupted every day this week until further notice due to the overtime ban.

Thameslink services will continue to operate throughout each day while Gatwick Express will provide a reduced service every 30 minutes between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria.

Protest: Commuters staged a protest at Victoria station in December.
EPA

Coach operator National Express is laying on extra services from Brighton to London throughout the week.

Angie Doll, Southern's passenger service director, said: "Once again, we wish to remind our passengers not to attempt to travel unless it is absolutely necessary on this week's strike days.

Ghost town: Railway stations were deserted during the rail strikes. (Stefan Rousseau/PA )
Stefan Rousseau/PA

"There will also be significant disruption and hardship on the days Aslef is not on strike because of their overtime ban, especially on Thursday when trains will be out of position because of the strikes on each day either side.

"We are deeply sorry for the unnecessary and unwarranted disruption this dispute is causing.

"The unions' response is utterly disproportionate, causing misery to 300,000 passengers a day across the South East and untold damage to the regional economy.

"This dispute is pointless. The unions claim this is about safety, but Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Railways has carried out a thorough and robust review and has ruled what we are doing is safe.

"It is now time the union stopped abusing their power to call unjustified strikes and join us in delivering a modern railway for everyone."

Aslef is opposed to driver-only trains on safety grounds, while the Rail, Maritime and Transport union is embroiled in a separate dispute over the role of conductors.

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