Southern rail says the RMT’s strikes are becoming less effective ahead of next week’s 24-hour walkout
Southern rail has pledged to run the majority of its services during the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union's next strike on Monday 13 March.
The train operator says industrial action is proving less effective and that during the last strike on 22 February, Southern ran 87 per cent of trains with more than 50 per cent on board staff reporting for work.
It runs 2,242 services on a non-strike day.
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Passenger services director Angie Doll said: “We've shown that we can now run almost all our services during an RMT strike. Our on-board supervisors are now established in their roles and passengers are beginning to see the benefits of having someone whose sole job is customer service.”
The long-running dispute centres around changes to the role of the guard and has resulted in months of disruption with strike action by the RMT and train drivers' union Aslef.
Aslef reps had reached a deal with Southern, but its members rejected the agreement, so the union and train operator have gone back to the drawing board for fresh talks.
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The RMT meanwhile, is still in dispute with Southern, with the train operator labelling the union's last industrial action on Wednesday 22 February "impotent and ineffective".
The union said Southern's failure to "take the safety issues seriously" left it with "no option but to confirm further action".
Most services will operate to the normal timetable for next week's 24-hour strike, but there will be no Southern services between Clapham Junction and Milton Keynes via Kensington Olympia / Watford Junction, nor any service between Leatherhead and Guildford.
There will also be no Rye to Ashford International shuttle services during the morning and evening peaks.