“We share the anger and frustration of passengers and we can not sit back while jobs and safety are compromised on these dangerously overcrowded trains”, – RMT General Secretary Mick Cash defends the action.
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An emergency timetable is in place, with Southern saying it will run 60% of normal services, rather than the 85% it has been running since last month in an attempt to provide a more accurate timetable.
Southern and the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union (RMT) are involved in a dispute over the role of conductors.
In fact, the RMT said today’s walkout was being “solidly” supported.
“We are deeply disappointed that union bosses are overlooking the impact that they are having on the public, and we obviously want to see the situation resolved”, a Downing Street spokesperson said. The union has held a series of one-day strikes since April after balloting 393 members.
But train operator Govia Thameslink said the strike was “completely unjustified”.
Hundreds of thousands of train commuters in London and southern England have been left facing misery on the first day of a five-day strike.
There are routes which have limited services between 7am and 6pm.
Striking rail workers are to stage a protest outside the Department for Transport amid claims that the Government has put a “blockade” on talks to end a row over the role of conductors.
Southern published full details of an eight-point written offer to the union which was tabled during talks at conciliation service Acas last week, which collapsed without agreement.
GTR said the RMT rejected a fresh offer.
However, the talks failed as GTR said in times of disruption, there might be occasions when they would let trains run with only a driver.
Cash said the union remained open for talks, but added: “We were just getting into the detailed wording when suddenly the plug was pulled and our legs were kicked from under us”.
Southern, which has about 300,000 passengers a day, said on Monday it was operating almost 60% of its regular timetable during the strike and 88.5% of those services were running on time.
Tom Stables, managing director of National Express, said: “We understand how vital it is for people to get where they need to be on time- and in comfort too”.
“They have made it clear that they have no interest in resolving this dispute or in tackling the daily chaos on Southern”.
On Monday, the prime minister sharply criticised RMT leaders.
Labour has accused the Conservative party of seeking an “ideological dust-up” with rail unions.
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RMT general secretary Mick Cash has continued to insist that it is safety, rather than jobs, which is at the heart of the dispute. The East Coast franchise was in public hands until 2015, but passenger and revenue figures have come in below the forecasts of the Stagecoach-led joint venture behind the current operation, and unions fear that staff may bear the brunt of cost-cutting measures.
