Christmas travel chaos looms as South Western rail staff prepare to strike from Monday
Londoners are set to endure a month of chaos on one of the capital’s busiest railways, after last ditch strike talks between union bosses and the rail operator broke down again today.
The 27 day strike, which begins on Monday, is on course to be London’s worst ever, and will hit all South Western rail services which run in and out of Waterloo, the busiest station in the country.
Read more: South Western Railway services to close early in December amid strikes
Drivers and guards will strike until the New Year, only stopping for a brief period around the General Election on 12 December and for Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when trains do not run anyway.
Morning Wire understands the two sides thought they had reached a deal earlier today under the auspices of conciliation service Acas, when RMT general secretary Mick Cash and South Western managing director Andy Mellors came to an agreement in the negotiating room.
However, Cash then returned to RMT executives, and later told the operator they could not agree to the terms, a source close to the process said.
Cash said the union was “angry and frustrated” after it put forward a set of proposals that it thought would end the dispute.
These “would have cost the company absolutely nothing,” he added, but have been “kicked back in our faces”.
RMT’s demands centre around the role of the train guard, and whether they have control over operating carriage doors. The union said this is important to help keep passengers safe when boarding and alighting the train.
But South Western called RMT’s latest demands “antiquated”.
“What we are not prepared to compromise on is the much needed modernisation of the service,” a spokesperson added.
“Throughout negotiations we have tried repeatedly to find ways meet the RMT’s aspirations. However, every time we find a way forward on one point the union has moved the goalposts by changing its position.”
“We’re very disappointed because we had agreed a deal in the room, but unfortunately the RMT’s executive later chose not to accept it.”
Henry Gregg, external affairs director at retail group the New West End Company, said the strikes would “inevitably have a negative impact” during the crucial Christmas trading period, after another challenging year for high street shops.
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Meanwhile, a spokesperson for pro-business group London First said the industrial action “damages our capital’s economy and disrupts Londoners, commuters and visitors alike in the festive period”.
South Western serves on average 600,000 passenger journeys every day. Trains run to regions such as Surrey and Hampshire, but even go as far as Exeter.