Southern rail strike starts today
London commuters are braced for travel chaos today as Southern rail workers embark on their latest round of strike action.
Today's strike will run over tomorrow as well, and is expected to "significantly affect service".
Intended RMT strike action is expected to significantly affect service Tuesday 22 & Wednesday 23 Nov. Full details https://t.co/VHxJ2ixXI5
— Southern (@SouthernRailUK) November 15, 2016
Southern workers are protesting the removal of train guards from services as the rail operator moves towards a wholesale driver only operation.
As a result of the industrial action today, first class has been declassified across all Southern services.
First class has been declassified across all our services today. 1st tkt holders can claim back the difference at https://t.co/MYiO6qEuUW
— Southern (@SouthernRailUK) November 22, 2016
This two-day strike is not the only action that will disrupt trains over the coming weeks – in September the RMT union announced 14 days of strike action in total.
The remaining strike dates are:
- Tuesday 6 December to Thursday 8 December 2016
- Thursday 22 December to Saturday 24 December 2016
- Saturday 31 December 2016 to Monday 2 January 2017
Meanwhile, services that are running may be subject to delays due to signalling faults at Crystal Palace.
⚠️ #CrystalPalace – Services running through may be cancelled or delayed up to 30 mins https://t.co/4PWFDXcUOk
— Southern (@SouthernRailUK) November 22, 2016
Commuters on Twitter vented their frustrations with the service:
https://twitter.com/Chris_B_Goddard/status/800982539607351296
Every day a new delay, thanks for traveling with @SouthernRailUK ( they are not able to open the train doors today ) #london #omg pic.twitter.com/Oo8X8AzFQZ
— Giulio Stella (@StellaGiulio) November 22, 2016
Guaranteed delays on Southern as it is yet again a day for a #southernstrike so didn't need signal failure as well 😡
— Karen Lee (@kdplee) November 22, 2016