Five more days of SWR strikes start
Then first of five further strikes by RMT members on South Western Railway is under way. The walkouts are now set to continue for the rest of this week, and unless there is progress in talks over the on-train staffing dispute further strikes have been announced for all four Saturdays in November. The RMT says it is faced with a ‘threat to axe guards and roll out driver only operation’, although SWR has responded that ‘our growth plans mean more guards, not fewer’. Talks intended to resolve the dispute have foundered repeatedly.
Grayling faces difficult Thameslink decisionTransport secretary Chris Grayling has told a committee of MPs that any penalty for Govia Thameslink Railway following disruption earlier this year will be decided ‘within weeks’. Mr Grayling said the action was being ‘finalised’, and he did not rule out terminating the franchise altogether, with the alternative of a financial penalty. When questioned about the failed 20 May timetable changes, which should have seen another 400 services a day on Govia Thameslink routes but actually led to prolonged disruption, Mr Grayling said the problem was ‘systemic’.
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