South Western Railway (SWR) is urging customers to only travel if absolutely necessary between Thursday 18 and Sunday 21 August due a third round of industrial action.

Network Rail employees and more than 2,100 SWR members are taking strike action on Thursday 18 and Saturday 20 August.

Customers have been warned to expect severe delays and should try and find another way of travelling. Significant parts of the railway network will be closed entirely.

There will be no replacement buses.

The two days of strike action are Thursday 18 August and Saturday 20 August, but Friday 19 and Sunday 21 will also be disrupted as trains will start running later than usual and the trains that are running will be much busier than usual.

On the strike days, there will be a much reduced service on a limited number of routes between 07:15 and 18:30, for those who have no choice but to travel.

There will be contingency cover from Network Rail for part of the day for essential roles including electrical control room operators, signallers, maintenance, and response teams.

The following trains will run on the strike days:

• Four trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside via Hounslow 
• Two semi-fast trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Basingstoke 
• Four trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Woking 
• Two fast trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Southampton Central 

There will be no trains on the rest of the network.

There is also a strike by ASLEF Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen) on Saturday August 13. SWR will not be affected by this, but some other train companies will be, so customers should check before they travel.

South Western Railway's Commercial Director, Peter Williams, said:  "Please only travel if absolutely necessary between Thursday 18 and Sunday 21 August as strike action will severely impact our services. Those who must travel are urged to carefully check the times of first and last trains and seek alternative means of travel. 

"The scale of the action will be incredibly disruptive for our customers with large parts of our network closed on strike days and a late start up on the morning after each strike day. First trains will run much later than usual and are likely to be very busy, so please travel later in the day if you can.  

"We are sorry that strikes will again cause such disruption. We are grateful to our customers for their continued cooperation, patience, and understanding as the rail industry works to bring this damaging nationwide strike action to an end." 

Can I get a refund?

If you have have a ticket for Thursday 18 or Saturday 20 August you will be able to claim a fee-free refund. Alternatively, you can use the ticket to travel the day before the date shown on the ticket or up to and including Tuesday 23 August.

You can find out more information here.

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