UK - TRAINS MISERY AS SOUTHERN RAIL STRIKE BEGINS

8 August 2016

UK - TRAINS MISERY AS SOUTHERN RAIL STRIKE BEGINS

Commuters across London and the south east of England are facing a nightmare journey as a five-day walkout begins. Rail passengers face a week of misery as a five-day strike begins - the longest since 1968 - in a row over whose job it is to open and close doors on trains.  At present, it is the role of conductors - but Southern Rail wants it to become the job of drivers, arguing it will result in faster and more punctual services and will not threaten any jobs or pay. Angie Doll, Passengers Services Director for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which owns Southern Railway, told Sky News: "We are keeping conductors. On trains where the driver can control the door, we want to modify the role of conductor and evolve it into a new role where the second person is still on the train to give customers good service." But the unions claim Southern Rail has failed to give them a concrete guarantee "there will be a guard on every train" and fear the change will jeopardise the safety of passengers. The irony of the Southern Rail Strike is that the usual service is so bad that I genuinely can't tell the difference. Trains in areas including London, East and West Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Buckinghamshire and Hampshire will be affected by the walkout. There will be no trains in either direction on some routes, including Clapham Junction to Milton Keynes, via Kensington Olympia, Eastbourne to Ashford International, via Hastings and Chichester to Portsmouth Harbour and Southampton Central. On some there will be no service after 6pm and passengers can expect carriages on limited services to be packed. Picket lines will be mounted across Southern's network, including London Victoria and Brighton in Sussex. An emergency timetable has been put in place and Southern has said it will run 60% of services.