South Western Railway strike latest: Commuters and shoppers face 27-day December walkout after failed peace talks

Rail commuters and Christmas shoppers face strike action for almost all of next month after peace talks failed.

Train staff on South Western Railway (SWR) will walk out from Monday 2 December in 27 days of industrial action leading up to New Year’s Day.

The only respite will be on General Election day - Thursday 12 December - and on Christmas and Boxing Day when no or very few trains run anyway.

The walkouts will affect more than 600,000 passengers a day and all routes to and from mainline Waterloo, the UK’s busiest station. More than 17,000 trains will be cancelled.

The RMT union - which has ordered the walkouts in the long running row over changes to train guard duties, who controls the doors and driver-only operation - has refused to rule out further strikes if the dispute is not settled.

There will now be desperate efforts to get the two sides talking again after the talks at conciliation service Acas collapsed last night.

Andy Mellors, SWR managing director, writing in yesterday’s Evening Standard, before the talks broke up, condemned the strikes as “unnecessary.”

In a message to passengers he wrote: “I share the frustrations you feel about this, so I want to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to keep you moving if these strikes go ahead.”

An SWR spokesperson said: “We’re very disappointed. Despite promising to keep guards on all our trains and promising that they will have a safety critical role, the talks broke down today.

“We believe these promises deliver on what the RMT has been asking for, so these strikes are unnecessary.

“We remain committed to finding a solution that works for our customers and we remain open to talks if the RMT decides to reconsider its position.

“In the meantime, our focus has to be on planning and delivering a train service for our customers.”

Mick Cash, the union leader, said; “The RMT has attended discussions under the auspices of Acas for the past two days to discuss the issues in dispute. No proposals that would enable the development of a resolution to the dispute have been put forward by SWR.

“As a result of the company attitude all planned action remains on and the union is committed to ensuring the safest possible method of operation. RMT will remain available for discussions with the company at any time.”

Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, warned passengers may now have to change Christmas plans.

He said: “Passengers have had enough of the on-going industrial action on SWR services. They have faced lost time, money, more driving and deep frustration at not being able to rely on the trains.”