Southern rail strikes: More misery for commuters as train guards stage fresh walkout

Southern rail commuters faced another day of travel misery as guards staged fresh strike action.

The RMT union members began a 48-hour strike on Monday in a long-running bitter dispute with the rail operator over its plans to introduce driver-only trains.

Coupled with a continuing ban on overtime by drivers in the Aslef union, the action sparked fresh problems for Southern’s 300,000 passengers.

The beleaguered rail operator warned passengers that there would be no trains on some routes, while others would grind to a halt after 6pm.

Queuing systems were put in place at Balham and Tulse Hill stations, which were expected to be busier than usual.

Last week, Southern cancelled all of its 2,242 weekday train services on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Peace talks aimed at resolving the dispute between Southern and the Aslef union ended without agreement on Thursday evening.

Southern has not met with the RMT for discussions in recent weeks.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "We are a serious trade union dealing with serious issues around safety on the railways. That is our absolute priority.

He added: “Our conductor members on Southern are on strike this week in defence of the safety of the travelling public and that remains the focus of the entire union."