Service update from southern and advice for tomorrow

• PASSENGERS URGED TO CHECK BEFORE THEY TRAVEL TOMORROW
• SERVICES RUNNING AS PLANNED: NEARLY 90% ON-TIME
• RMT CONFIRM JOBS NOT AT RISK
• INDEPENDENT SAFETY BODY CONFIRM SAFETY NOT AT RISK FROM DOO

18:00, TUESDAY 21 JUNE 2016

So far, over 87% of services operating today on the strike-affected Southern network have run to time. Southern will be returning to its normal timetable tomorrow (Wednesday) but some services may run with fewer carriages than normal because trains will be out of their normal position because of today’s strike.

We also expect there will be cancellations caused by the issues with train crew availability that we have been experiencing recently. Passengers are urged to check our website in the morning.

RMT boss Mick Lynch confirmed on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning what GTR has always been saying: that jobs are not at risk in the dispute. In response to Nick Robinson’s assertion that the dispute was about protecting jobs, Lynch responded that, “No they’ve been offered jobs as alternatives.”

This follows confirmation from the independent rail safety body, RSSB, that there is “no increased safety risk” from driver operated doors (DOO), and that in fact there are “potentially deliver some safety benefits” on services where conductors operate train doors due to the removal of the risk of miscommunication between driver and guard.

Commenting on today’s developments, a GTR spokesperson said: “The RMT has now accepted that jobs are not at risk, and the RSSB has nailed their bogus safety claims. Given this, passengers are bound to conclude that this strike is about nothing more than the RMT asserting their power to bring the railway to a standstill. Enough is enough, this strike should be the last.”

ends