SWR and Northern rail services affected by ASLEF strike

The operators Northern and SWR will be affected by the upcoming strike action. The train operator Northern has published a travel advice calendar for Monday 29 January – Sunday 7 February to highlight when services will be affected.  

There will be no Northern services at all on Wednesday 31 January when ASLEF members – most of whom are employed as train drivers – stage their latest walk out.  

Additional disruption is expected from Monday 29 January to Tuesday 6 February due to action short of strike called by ASLEF and customers are advised to check before they travel as there may be some short notice cancellations to services running on these days.  

For more information about the strike and the services that will be affected, customers should visit: www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/strikes.   

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “We urge customers to check before they travel during this period of industrial action. 

“We apologise in advance for the significant disruption and inconvenience this will cause our customers. 

“We hope to see a resolution to this issue in the near future and an end to the disruption these strikes cause.”  

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.  

South Western Railway (SWR) has outlined its services during upcoming industrial action by the ASLEF union.

Strike action has been called on Tuesday 30 January, with SWR running a severely reduced service on a limited number of lines. Trains will only run between:

• London Waterloo and Basingstoke
• London Waterloo and Feltham via Twickenham
• London Waterloo and Guildford
• London Waterloo and Woking
• Basingstoke and Salisbury

The rest of the network will be closed, including the Island Line, and trains will only run between 0700 and 1900. There will be no train services outside of these times.

Customers are advised to only travel if absolutely necessary and to avoid the first and last trains of the day, which are likely to be extremely busy.

Journey planners for Tuesday 30 January are up to date and if customers must travel, they should check their entire journey carefully, as other operators will be affected.

On Monday 29 and Wednesday 31 January, through to Tuesday 6 February, action short of a strike will mean a ban on overtime working.

Services across the network will be subject to short-notice alterations and cancellations are also possible. On the Island Line, a reduced timetable will operate, with trains running once per hour.

Journey planners are now up to date through to Thursday 1 February, with updates for other days to follow.

Stuart Meek, South Western Railway’s Chief Operating Officer, said:

“We’re very sorry to announce that industrial action, including full strike action, will affect our network at the end of January and into early February.

“It has been a tough start to the year due to adverse weather conditions and these damaging strikes will cause yet more disruption for our customers.

“Our advice is to only travel if absolutely necessary on Tuesday 30 January and to check before travelling on all other affected dates. It is also vital that customers check their entire journey on all the affected dates, as other operators will be affected.

“Once again we’re very sorry for the disruption this will cause and we thank our customers for their continued patience.”