Thousands of passengers face disruption to services as part of five-day walkout over guards

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Commuters have described the disruption caused by the latest South Western Railway strike over the role of guards on trains as “chaos”.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union began the action shortly after midnight on Tuesday as part of a five-day walkout.

The strike is set to disrupt services for thousands of passengers in London, Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, the Isle of Wight and Somerset.

A reduced service is running across the network, although extra morning and evening trains were expected to run between London Waterloo and Reading to help ferry racegoers heading to Royal Ascot.

In Surbiton, south-west London, passengers stood in a queue reportedly 300-metres-long stretching from the station to the high street on Tuesday morning.

Passenger Adam Neal-Jones called the situation “utter madness” on Twitter and said the National Rail app had suggested trains were running on time.

Adam Neal-Jones (@adammnjones) #SWRStrike chaos today at Surbiton station, told to come back after 11 to possible get on a train. @nationalrailenq app suggests trains running on time, only if you can get on one. @SW_Help @kingstonnews @BBCTravelAlert Utter madness... pic.twitter.com/K5AGFr8j2H

Alongside a video of the queue, Neal-Jones added: “Chaos today at Surbiton station, told to come back after 11 to possible [sic] get on a train.”

Another commuter on a train heading to Waterloo complained their ticket had cost the same despite the train being packed and with no announcements.

Michael (@Michael_ryan85) @SW_Help #SWRStrike train packed, no announcements, but it’s fine because my ticket cost the same pic.twitter.com/FQ3UW9CojV

Over the past two years, the long-running dispute has resulted in 29 days of industrial action. In February, a planned strike was halted after the RMT said “substantial progress” had been made in talks with the rail operator.

Across the SWR network, picket lines sprung up outside station while trains were cancelled or delayed and some were replaced with bus services.

The company has said it will run extra trains to high-profile events including Royal Ascot – the opening day of which coincided with the beginning of the strike action.

The RMT general secretary, Mick Cash, said members had been left with no choice but to go ahead with the walkouts, and accused the company of dragging its heels during recent talks.

“For more than three months we have sought to negotiate a conclusion to this dispute and it is wholly down to the management side that the core issue of the safety critical competencies and the role of the guard has not been signed off,” he added.

An SWR spokesman described the walkout as “unnecessary”, adding: “It’s very disappointing that despite having had dates in the diary for what we hoped would be further constructive talks, the RMT union decided to call disruptive strike action over the course of five days.

“The RMT has always said it wanted us to keep the guard on every train which is what we have offered as part of a framework agreement.”