Long-running dispute comes to an end

A YEARS-LONG industrial dispute between South Western Railway and staff who are members of the RMT union over who was to operate doors on trains is over. There were more than 74 days of strikes between 2017 and 2020, and the union has secured a guarantee of a guard on all SWR trains – including the new Class 701s, which were intended as driver-only operations. An average of 800 trains were cancelled on each strike day. The last strike was in January 2020, before the pandemic struck.