Southern Rail to strike for 24 hours from tomorrow morning causing headache for thousands of travellers
The dispute comes as the operator plans to reduce the role of train conductors
A 24 hour walkout by train conductors is set to cause massive disruption across the south-east of England on Tuesday.
Thousands of passengers will face delays as relations between the RMT union and the rail operator Southern continue to sour.
The two sides remain deadlocked over a change to the role of the conductor which the union says will reduce safety standards.
Southern are introducing 12 new carriages and the responsibility of watching the doors and seeing trains off from stations has now been transferred to the driver.
The role of conductor has been reduced to help passengers on-board.
Union bosses argue that the changes have been made due to cost and come at the expense of passenger safety.
RMT, who say they will attend talks with the rail company, apologised to passengers for Tuesday’s disruptions.
RELATED STORIES
Mick Cash, the RMT leader, said: “Our message to passengers is that our fight is your fight and that the battle for our jobs today is to protect your safety tomorrow.
“If we stand together we can defeat this company and its attacks on jobs, services and safety.”
Speaking with the Evening Standard, Southern insisted changes to the role of conductor would be introduced in August because “it’s the right thing for passengers.”
Southern said the strike would have a “significant effect” through out Tuesday with some routes having no trains and a limited service on all routes between 7.30 am and 6pm. Outside those peak hours trains may not run at all.
The Brighton mainline will operate a reduced Gatwick Express and Southern service between Victoria, Gatwick and Brighton.
And while Gatwick Express and Thameslink trains are not affected by the strike the trains will be much busier than usual.
Earlswood and Salfords stations will be shut all day while Coulsdon South, Merstham, Horley and Redhill will only be open at certain times on Tuesday.
A breakdown of the reduced schedule can be found on .
The RMT’s controlling executive committee will meet after the walkout to decide on further action.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368