South Western Train Aslef Overtime Ban on Aug. 5 Question...

[fishman620]

We are taking the 9:55 South Western Train from Waterloo Station to Southampton on Aug. 6......there is a Aslef Overtime Ban on Aug. 5 and they said there would be "a level of disruption on Aug. 6, and services are also likely to be disrupted and start later on the day immediately after."  One of the railways mentioned is the South Western Railway Mainline......is that the one going to Southampton?  Do we need to get other transportation to the cruise ship?  Thank you for any information!

 

[gumshoe958]

It is that line, yes - but the overtime ban doesn’t seem to be having a major impact on it. The 9:35 (which is faster) and 9:53 to Southampton are both scheduled to run.

[fishman620]

17 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

It is that line, yes - but the overtime ban doesn’t seem to be having a major impact on it. The 9:35 (which is faster) and 9:53 to Southampton are both scheduled to run.

Thanks Gumshoe.....so if it shows that they are both scheduled to run on Aug. 6, does that mean for sure that they will, or can they change that??

[gumshoe958]

4 hours ago, fishman620 said:

Thanks Gumshoe.....so if it shows that they are both scheduled to run on Aug. 6, does that mean for sure that they will, or can they change that??

 
Nothing is certain until the day unfortunately but I really wouldn’t stress about it. Yesterday there was a full-on national strike but the Southampton trains still ran reliably every half hour.

[Globaliser]

8 hours ago, fishman620 said:

Thanks Gumshoe.....so if it shows that they are both scheduled to run on Aug. 6, does that mean for sure that they will, or can they change that??

 

As gumshoe958 says, don't stress about this.

 

I think that it is by now almost certain that the service to Southampton will not be cancelled due to this industrial action. The worst that will happen is that some trains may get re-timed, or there may be a reduced frequency. But my guess is that you will find that Sunday 6 August operates in accordance with the published timetable. (Leaving aside the possibility that something goes wrong on the day, not related to industrial action.)

 

The reasons are these:

1. At least two weeks' notice must be given of industrial action. The union concerned notified this action on 17 July, with action from 31 July until 5 August. In theory, there could be notification today that the action will continue into 6 August (and perhaps beyond), but it wouldn't be logical for the union not to have included that in the 17 July notification. Plus it's Sunday today.
2. It's not a strike. Recent experience is that the only industrial action that brings the railway to a halt is if this union (ASLEF) actually strikes. The possibility of a strike is now only theoretical, given the need for two weeks' notice to be given.
3. If the industrial action doesn't include your travel date, the possible disruption for you from the action is simply from consequential knock-on effects as the operation recovers from any disruption on the previous day.
4. South Western Railway has already planned its operation for the days from 31 July to 4 August. Trains to Southampton Central are typically bound for Weymouth; the published timetable for 6 August is a mixture of Weymouth and Poole trains. On the days with a planned reduced operation, Poole trains are "Service largely as per normal weekday timetable ..." and Weymouth trains are "Service largely reduced to hourly throughout the day". So at the very worst, even in the middle of this industrial action there is only going to be a reduction in frequency.

 

You can keep up to date with SWR's plans on this page: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/industrial-action - the company has not yet announced how it's going to deal with Saturday 5 August, so there will be further updates.

 

FWIW, I need to take the train on the next strike day (29 July). It's a route that normally has 13 trains an hour. Because of the strike (admittedly not by ASLEF but a different union), that's been reduced to 9 an hour. I'm not stressing about it.

[fishman620]

Thank you both Gumshoe and Globaliser for the explanation......This does ease my mind🙂

[Globaliser]

SWR's page has now been updated, with no mention of any changes to 6 August services: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/industrial-action

[fishman620]

9 hours ago, Globaliser said:

SWR's page has now been updated, with no mention of any changes to 6 August services: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/industrial-action

😁🎉  Thank goodness!!

[luv2vacation]

I just noticed this post and realized my plans might be affected by this strike.  I am traveling by train from Southampton to Waterloo on the morning of Friday August 11 and returning later the same day.  If I am reading it right there will at least be hourly service.  Is that correct?  Any advice on what I should do?  Should I seek other transportation?

[gumshoe958]

1 hour ago, luv2vacation said:

I just noticed this post and realized my plans might be affected by this strike.  I am traveling by train from Southampton to Waterloo on the morning of Friday August 11 and returning later the same day.  If I am reading it right there will at least be hourly service.  Is that correct?  Any advice on what I should do?  Should I seek other transportation?

As things stand, I would expect a normal half-hourly service to run, and no I would not seek other transportation.

[luv2vacation]

2 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

As things stand, I would expect a normal half-hourly service to run, and no I would not seek other transportation.

Thank you!  I appreciate the help.