Commuters will face reduced services over the festive period as SWR workers are going on a 27 day strike.
It comes after talks between the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and SWR over a long-running dispute over guards on trains broke down. The union has demanded that guards should oversee the operation of doors and perform other safety functions in dispatching trains.
SWR said it has offered “a guard on every train, and a safety critical role for that guard.”
The Union have said the strike is ‘in defence of public safety’.
Trains to and from Bournemouth will be limited, with a shuttle running between Bournemouth and Weymouth every hour. The operator has announced that the final trains will run at 11pm, earlier than those scheduled. It is estimated that 850 services will be cancelled, replaced or finish early.
SWR are hoping to operate more than over 50% of their scheduled trains, but remain hopeful that there will be enough staff to increase the amount of services they’re able to run.
Workers will work normally on December 12, the day of the election. There were no trains scheduled to run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. The strike is predicted to end on New Years Day.
For more information, click here.