Honiton: Second national rail walk-out will take place later this month

A second national rail strike will take place on Wednesday 27 July and it will severely affect trains, including those coming through Honiton station.

The first one took place between 21 to 25 June 2022.

South West Railway (SWR) will be running a much reduced timetable and large parts of the network will be closed.

There will be severe disruption on the Wednesday and the delays and cancellations will cause a late start and reduced service on the Thursday. Customers are asked to change their plans if possible.

The planned industrial action by the RMT union is taking place due to disputes over conditions and pay. Network Rail made workers a new pay offer which they said was worth more than 5%, however the offer depended on workers accepting "modernising reforms". RMT leaders rejected the offer and described it as "paltry" and would mean a real term pay cut.

SWR is working with Network rail to create a timetable for the strike days, but customers should expect a similar schedule to the one in place during the last strike, which saw only a few trains running on key routes.

SWR's Managing Director Claire Mann said: "It is bitterly disappointing that the RMT has announced this latest strike date. We know how damaging and disruptive industrial action can be, and I'm sorry to all those who's plans will be disrupted by this damaging strike.

"We are working hard to finalise a contingency timetable, but we expect we'll have no choice but to close significant parts of our network on Wednesday 27 July, with severe disruption expected on the following day.

"That's why we're urging customers who are planning to use our services on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 July to begin making alternative arrangements". 

SWR will publish details of its reduced timetable when finalised and customers should check the website for latest updates.