Strikes set to cripple Sussex train services in new year

Commuters travelling in the first week of the new year will face almost a week of travel chaos due to industrial action by both the RMT and Aslef unions.

Only ten train stations across all of Sussex - all on the London to Brighton main line, with the exception of Hove, will run services on January 3, January 4, January 6 and January 7 due to the RMT walk-out. All other trains will be suspended.

However, on January 5, no trains will run on any part of the network due to strike action by train driver members of the ASLEF union.

Angie Doll, chief operating officer at Govia Thameslink Railway - which operates Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink services, said; “Regrettably, due to industrial action, our train services will be extremely limited in the first week of January with no trains at all on January 5.

“Please plan ahead and, if services are running, travel only if absolutely necessary.”

Passengers with tickets between January 3 and January 7 can use their ticket before the ticket date or up to and including January 10.

RMT members will take industrial action over four days at the start of the new year

Daniel Mann, director of industry operations at the Rail Delivery Group, said: “No one wants to see these strikes go ahead and we can only apologise to passengers and to the many businesses who will be hit by this unnecessary and damaging disruption.

“We would advise passengers to only travel if it is absolutely necessary during this period, allow extra time and check when their first and last train will depart.”

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that the union is prepared to enter talks to resolve the dispute, but that the government work with rail operators to come to an agreement.

He said: “Until the government gives the rail industry a mandate to come to a negotiated settlement on job security, pay and condition of work, our industrial campaign will continue into the new year.”

• READ MORE: Chaos at stations as passengers queue for first trains since strikes began

Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF - which represents 96 per cent of train drivers in Great Britain, said: “We don’t want to go on strike, but the companies have put us into this place.

“They have not offered our members at these companies a penny, and these are people who have not had an increase since April 2019.

“We are always happy to negotiate - we never refuse to sit down at the table and talk - but these companies have offered us nothing.

“We don’t want to inconvenience passengers and drivers don’t want to lose a day’s pay. That’s why strikes are always a last resort. But the intransigent attitude of the train companies, with the government acting with malice in the shadows, has forced our hand.”

Revised train times will be made available on journey planners on the National Rail website.