Guards working for Southern rail are to stage a five-day strike from 8 August as part of a long-running dispute over the future of their roles, the RMT union has said.

It comes as Southern’s services were hit by a string of delays and cancellations over the course of several weeks due to a combination of industrial disputes, staff shortages, and major engineering works. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which owns Southern, has even faced calls to be stripped of the franchise, and Claire Perry stepped down as rail minister and was replaced by Paul Maynard.

The dispute centres on Southern’s plan to implement changes to the role of conductors on 21 August. A spokesman for the RMT said it had offered a three-month pause to action if the company agreed to suspend its proposals for driver-operated doors and allow talks to take place, but that the request “has been kicked back in our faces”.

He added: “The union wrote to the new transport secretary, Chris Grayling, asking for direct talks after he said it was a priority to sort out the chaos on Southern. That letter has been ignored.”

The RMT general secretary, Mick Cash, said: “This action has been forced on us by the arrogance and inaction of Govia Thameslink and the government, who have made it clear that they have no interest in resolving this dispute or in tackling the daily chaos on Southern.



“Our fight is with the company and the government, who have dragged this franchise into total meltdown. We share the anger and frustration of passengers and we cannot sit back while jobs and safety are compromised on these dangerously overcrowded trains.

“It is disgraceful that neither the company nor the government are prepared to engage and are looking to bully through the extension of driver-only operation and the attack on the guards set for 21 August.

“They should wake up and get round the table now as an urgent priority.”

Govia Thameslink Railway’s chief operating officer, Dyan Crowther, said it was unacceptable that passengers were being made to suffer five days of disruption because the RMT was refusing to accept necessary change.

“We are offering all our onboard staff a job, as valued members of our future operation, with no reduction in salary,” he said. “We value the work of our staff, who are trying their best to deliver service levels that passengers expect.

“The sooner we can introduce the essential modernisation that our railways desperately need, the sooner we can stop the RMT from holding passengers to ransom. Contrary to the RMT’s accusation, we have always been open to talks and remain so. Only this week we spoke with the general secretary, Mick Cash, about further talks and he has been unwilling to enter into discussion.”

Earlier this month, Southern cancelled 341 trains a day when it introduced an emergency timetable aimed at providing a more reliable service. Commuters met Charles Horton, the chief executive of Southern, at a “meet the managers” event at London Victoria station, where they expressed their frustration with services.