Five TOC walkouts

RMT members at Greater Anglia, Merseyrail, Northern, Southern and South Western Railway engage in latest industrial dispute.

Guards on South Western Railway also held a 24-hour strike on New Year’s Eve, affecting people travelling via Waterloo to join central London celebrations.

Coinciding with the strike, the RMT union announced it had identified 141 “crime hotspot and no-go areas” that would result from SWR’s “plan to remove guards”.

The union claimed: “The shocking statistic means that two-thirds of South Western Railway’s 210 stations will be left unstaffed, unguarded and vulnerable. It will result in a toxic mix of dangers where passengers and the train driver are more exposed to crime and anti-social behaviour.”

However, the RMT argument was flawed. Most of SWR’s unstaffed stations are served by older rolling stock that is incapable of operation without a guard. The company has also repeatedly stated that it has no plans to remove guards from services, and no changes are proposed to the way in which stations are staffed.

Only the new Class 707 trains used on some Windsor services are equipped for Driver Controlled Operation. However, they are currently never operated that way.

New Bombardier rolling stock on order for delivery from December 2019 will also be fitted with in-cab CCTV and driveroperated doors. The 90 trains are destined for London suburban and Reading services.

There are no plans to replace older Class 442, ‘444’ and ‘450’ electric trains or Class 158/9 diesels used on routes to Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth, Weymouth, Salisbury and Exeter.

A company insider described the union’s claims as “without the slightest basis in fact, designed to mislead people”.