One week in to the RMT strike - How's SWR's performance? 

SWR's Managing Director, Andy Mellors, has written to our Chairman, extolling the company's strike-service performance (see below).

But do our commuters agree?

We are keen to know what residents think about the revised timetable and whether improvements could be made.

If you have a comment you wish us to pass on, please email chairman@residents-association.

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Date:     2019-12-04 11:41
From:     Andy Mellors
To:         Chairman@residents-association.com

Subject: Update on performance of South Western Railway services from 2 December 2019

Dear Mr Graham Cooke

I wanted to provide you with an update on the performance of South Western Railway services following the commencement of industrial action by the RMT on 2 December.

Since the beginning of the strike, we have been working hard to keep our passengers moving. An amended timetable is available for passengers online at www.southwesternrailway.com/strike along with further information on how the strike will impact travel on weekdays and at the weekend.

Despite some challenges with the rail infrastructure, we are pleased that so far in the strike the amended timetable has been working well. We are also pleased to say that we have been able to run a number of extra trains each day so far, including some at our most busy peak times, and will continue to do so wherever we can.

We know some stations have been particularly crowded and continue to work hard to find ways to alleviate this wherever possible. We remain committed to doing everything we can to get passengers where they need to go in the coming weeks, including in the run-up to Christmas and New Year.

This strike is the last thing any of us wanted. We are always open to talks if the RMT is ready to work with us to improve our service. We want a guard on every train and we promise to keep guards on our trains. All we want is the RMT and guards to work with us to develop a more customer focussed role that ensures passenger safety and accessibility and makes the guard visible throughout the train.

I hope the above update is useful. Should you have any questions about the ongoing industrial action, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Kind regards,

Andy Mellors
Managing Director
South Western Railway