South Western Railway urges commuters to only travel if absolutely necessary during RMT strikes in 16th and 18th March

RAIL commuters have been urged to travel only if absolutely necessary amid two days of strikes by South Western Railway workers.

RMT union members are taking part in the industrial action, which are scheduled for Thursday and Saturday.

No stations in the New Forest or Christchurch will be open on either day.

SWR warned of a severe reduction in its services during the strikes, with 40% of its overall workforce eligible, including guards, dispatchers and depot shunters.

As well as a limited number of services between 7am and 6.30pm, passengers were warned that services on Friday would start later than usual, at around 7am.

They were urged to check before travelling.

SWR’s chief operating officer, Stuart Meek, said: “I’m afraid I have to once again urge our customers to only travel if absolutely necessary on Thursday 16th and Saturday 18th March, and if you do have to travel, please check your entire journey as long-planned engineering works will affect services on the Saturday.

“While we are pleased to be able to provide additional services for Guildford and Salisbury during this round of strikes, we’re sorry that large parts of our network will still be closed.

"Our contingency managers are stepping in to provide the best service we can, and we thank our customers for their ongoing patience during these latest RMT strikes.”

Planned engineering work on Saturday will affect the mainline between London Waterloo and Southampton Central. No rail replacement bus services will be available on the route.

Reduced services on Thursday will include two trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Southampton Central.

On Saturday one of the few services will be one train per hour in each direction between Basingstoke and Southampton Central.

SWR advised that trains would not stop at all stations on strike days.

A normal timetable will operate on Sunday.

For more information visit southwesternrailway.com/strike