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Ticketing & journey planning advice during SWR strike action

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yorkie

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Note: this thread is to discuss ticketing and journey planning queries only.

Service information pages:

Network Map:

FAQs:

I have an Advanced Purchase ticket but my booked train isn't running?
If you have an advanced purchase ticket for an SWR train which is no longer running please use another SWR service which will get you to your destination at a similar time. On some routes, your ticket may be accepted by an alternative operator, please see the question 'Can I use my ticket on other train operators and TfL bus routes?' for more information. If no suitable trains are running and you decide not to travel, you may obtain a full refund from your point of purchase with no administration fee.

What if I choose to start or end my journey at a different station to that on my ticket?
If you hold a monthly or longer season ticket your ticket may be used from/to another station on the same line of route as the original ticket. This only applies to SWR services.

Can I use my ticket on other train operators and local bus routes?
We've arranged for you to be able to use your tickets, at no extra cost, on some other train companies and bus routes whilst industrial action takes place.

GWR:
You can use your South Western Railway ticket (including Advance tickets) on the routes below to help you connect with our services:
  • Bristol – Salisbury, via Warminster
  • Salisbury – Portsmouth Harbour/Havant, via Fareham
  • Yeovil Pen Mill – Salisbury via Castle Cary and Warminster
If you're travelling from between Crewkerne and Exeter, you can use your ticket (including Advance tickets) on GWR trains between Exeter and London Paddington via Newbury.

If you hold a daily ticket between Basingstoke and London Waterloo routed "via Woking", you can use this on GWR trains between Basingstoke and London Paddington via Reading.

Transport for London (TfL), London Underground will be accepting paper Single, Return or Season tickets at no extra cost between London Paddington and London Waterloo.

Southern and Thameslink:
You can use you South Western Railway ticket on Southern and Thameslink services between Southampton and Portsmouth or Havant.


Transport for London:
If you have a paper Single, Return or Season ticket between rail stations on the following bus routes, you can present it to the driver of the bus for travel in either direction at no extra charge:

- Route 65: Richmond - Kew Bridge - Brentford
- Route 111: Hampton – Hampton Court – Kingston
- Route 117: Feltham - Hounslow (Town Centre) - Isleworth
- Route 190: Richmond - North Sheen - Chiswick
- Route 216: Sunbury – Hampton – Hampton Court – Kingston
- Route 235: Feltham - Isleworth - Syon Lane - Brentford
- Route 237: Hounslow (Town Centre) - Isleworth - Brentford (County Court) - Kew Bridge
- Route 281: Hounslow - Twickenham - Fulwell - Teddington - Hampton Wick - Kingston - Surbiton
- Route 290: Staines – Sunbury – Fulwell – Twickenham
- Route 411: Hampton Court – Kingston
- Route E8: Hounslow - Isleworth - Brentford
- Route K2: Berrylands – Surbiton
- Route K3: Surbiton - Kingston - Norbiton
- Route K4: Surbiton - Kingston - Norbiton


If you use a Pay As You Go Oyster card you'll need to pay the appropriate bus fare.

Transport for London (TfL), London Underground will be accepting paper Single, Return or Season tickets at no extra cost between London Paddington and London Waterloo. If you use a Pay As You Go Oyster card you'll need to pay the appropriate fare.

Customers holding Anytime, Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak tickets valid for travel exclusively on South Western Railway services on strike days may use these tickets for travel on the day before or the day after the strike subject to the same travel and time restrictions.

We are still awaiting confirmation on whether tickets will be accepted by Crosscountry trains and local bus services. We hope to be able to give you an update early next week.

Island Line:
Trains on the Island Line will not be affected by the Industrial Action.


Delay Repay (or choosing not to travel):
If you travel on an Industrial Action day and experience a delay of 15 minutes or more to your journey against the amended timetable, you are eligible to claim through our Delay Repay scheme.

Customers with Anytime, Off Peak, Super Off Peak, or Advance tickets: If your train is cancelled or delayed and you decide not to travel you will be entitled to a full refund. Please see our refund page for more information.
 
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yorkie

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Are fares Weymouth to London valid via Newbury?
Yes Weymouth to London is valid via Castle Cary / Newbury under normal circumstances (traceable on maps WO+WE)

(without needing to consider whether or not additional rights are in place as a result of the disruption, and of course the fact that any company in a position to assist a customer who would otherwise be stranded is obligated to do so under the National Rail Conditions of Travel)
 

JB_B

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Yes Weymouth to London is valid via Castle Cary / Newbury under normal circumstances (traceable on maps WO+WE)

(without needing to consider whether or not additional rights are in place as a result of the disruption, and of course the fact that any company in a position to assist a customer who would otherwise be stranded is obligated to do so under the National Rail Conditions of Travel)

I think Weymouth to London tickets are now all routed either via Westbury or via Southampton (which is generally cheaper.)

I don't think the via Southampton tickets would normally be valid via Newbury - obviously it would be sensible to accept them during disruption.
 

yorkie

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I think Weymouth to London tickets are now all routed either via Westbury or via Southampton (which is generally cheaper.)

I don't think the via Southampton tickets would normally be valid via Newbury - obviously it would be sensible to accept them during disruption.
In a worst case scenario, a "via Southampton" ticket could be excessed to "via Newbury" by the on-train staff, priced at the full difference (for singles) or half the difference (for returns), if ticket acceptance is NOT in place and if it is possible to make the journey via Southampton.

If it is impossible to travel via Southampton, then under the NRCoT, travel must be allowed via Westbury/Castle Cary/Newbury at no additional cost.
 

embers25

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Worth noting that the last couple of strikes the ticket acceptance on GWR from Exeter to London has been in place and yet Exeter St Davids have point blank refused to sell tickets to London routed on SWR and they insist that only advances already bought are valid on GWR, not walk up tickets. This opinion was also supported by the station manager on me protesting several times, so don't expect miracles and expect gateline staff to not be too welcoming either. On train was fine however!
 

Mag_seven

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These links are all returning "404 Error".

Re any inter availability to/from Paddington on GWR it is worth noting that Paddington is closed on 24th and 27th December and the printed publicity from GWR indicates, for example, that if you are travelling from Exeter to London you should consider using SWR to Waterloo and if you are travelling from Slough to London you should consider travelling to Windsor and using SWR from Windsor to Waterloo. It also states that on these dates SWR will be operating "additional trains" between Reading and Waterloo!
 

Bill Badger

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The curtailment of evening services is particularly annoying and is going to affect a lot of people's Christmas plans, mine included. Might just be able to catch the last trains between 22.30-23.00 after a show or concert, but aren't going to risk it with no safety net to fall back on. Last train from Basingstoke to Farnborough at 20.54 is very early too, though can go later if double back via Woking, which I can't see being an issue given the circumstances, even if not officially permitted.
 

embers25

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Despite SWR saying on their website that Cranbrook and Pinhoe would have trains, they won't. Whilst I understand during the day the turnround time is too tight during the day, the 0510 from Exeter has no reason not to stop as it runs fast to Honiton instead and then sits there for 10 minutes waiting for its normal departure time as if it had stopped. It did this last strikes and some days it stopped at all stops despite the timetable but you couldn't guarantee it. What's more stupid is that not only can it stop, it would also save 2 unnecessary replacement buses. Very bizarre and creating inconvenience for no reason.
 

Goldfish62

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The curtailment of evening services is particularly annoying and is going to affect a lot of people's Christmas plans, mine included. Might just be able to catch the last trains between 22.30-23.00 after a show or concert, but aren't going to risk it with no safety net to fall back on. Last train from Basingstoke to Farnborough at 20.54 is very early too, though can go later if double back via Woking, which I can't see being an issue given the circumstances, even if not officially permitted.
The Reading line is the standard 2tph off peak service pattern as per previous strikes, but the real shocker is that the last train from Waterloo is at 22.20 instead of 23.50. That makes it impossible for anyone going to the theatre in London.

Personally I'd have preferred an hourly service during the middle of the day in order to provide something later at night.
 

maxbarnish

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Despite SWR saying on their website that Cranbrook and Pinhoe would have trains, they won't. Whilst I understand during the day the turnround time is too tight during the day, the 0510 from Exeter has no reason not to stop as it runs fast to Honiton instead and then sits there for 10 minutes waiting for its normal departure time as if it had stopped. It did this last strikes and some days it stopped at all stops despite the timetable but you couldn't guarantee it. What's more stupid is that not only can it stop, it would also save 2 unnecessary replacement buses. Very bizarre and creating inconvenience for no reason.

I entirely agreed and let SWR know about this after the last strike - on the last occasion, there was 15 minutes unnecessary dwell time at Yeovil Junction.
 

maxbarnish

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Worth noting that the last couple of strikes the ticket acceptance on GWR from Exeter to London has been in place and yet Exeter St Davids have point blank refused to sell tickets to London routed on SWR and they insist that only advances already bought are valid on GWR, not walk up tickets. This opinion was also supported by the station manager on me protesting several times, so don't expect miracles and expect gateline staff to not be too welcoming either. On train was fine however!

I am surprised by this - never had issues at Exeter before. One potential solution is to buy the SWR routed ticket online and collect on arrival. Once the ticket is already bought, the route will be permitted.
 

HantsExile

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I'm confused. When the strike was announced - and since then - it was said that there would be no industrial action on Election Day Dec 12th. But the latest strike timetable from SWR runs from Dec 2nd to 20th with no reference to something different happening on the 12th. Am I missing something? Or has there been a change?
 

Starmill

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The Reading line is the standard 2tph off peak service pattern as per previous strikes, but the real shocker is that the last train from Waterloo is at 22.20 instead of 23.50. That makes it impossible for anyone going to the theatre in London.
A train at 2220 on a strike day is quite an incredibleachievement. On Northern strike days, most routes had final services before 1600, and nearly nowhere had departures after 1900. On one occasion the final service on a Saturday from Manchester to local stations on the Styal line was the 1414.
 

Goldfish62

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A train at 2220 on a strike day is quite an incredibleachievement. On Northern strike days, most routes had final services before 1600, and nearly nowhere had departures after 1900. On one occasion the final service on a Saturday from Manchester to local stations on the Styal line was the 1414.
Not if you consider that the last train has been 2350 during previous strikes. The level of service provided during SWR strikes bears no comparison with the pitiful coverage during Northern strikes.
 

Starmill

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Not if you consider that the last train has been 2350 during previous strikes. The level of service provided during SWR strikes bears no comparison with the pitiful coverage during Northern strikes.
This is very true. I am very surprised that SWR attempted to replicate the normal timetable.
 

Kite159

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Hopefully the timetable for the Sunday will come out sooner rather than later, to see if I need to drive somewhere closer to London (due into Euston at 21:10, so if the 22:15 service was running it would be good, otherwise it will be a trip via Reading getting back into Basingstoke for around midnight unless I can pull off a 28 minute connection from Euston to Paddington)
 

Joe Paxton

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I'm confused. When the strike was announced - and since then - it was said that there would be no industrial action on Election Day Dec 12th. But the latest strike timetable from SWR runs from Dec 2nd to 20th with no reference to something different happening on the 12th. Am I missing something? Or has there been a change?

This is a fair question. The RMT announcement makes clear that Thursday 12 December is not a strike day.

My guess - and it's just a guess - is that SWR have decided it would be simpler to treat this day as a strike day too. One can perhaps imagine that the stock might not all be ready for a normal day's service, so it'd be better not to promise such a thing. Perhaps it's also about messaging and expectation management.

It must be said that the 'RMT Industrial Action' page on the SWR website is singularly useless in that it doesn't even provide the dates of the strike (that's leaving aside the issue of the 12 December). The only clue on that page as to the date the strike begins is the text next to the map, which states "RMT strike service for Monday to Friday, 2 to 20 December".
 

Joe Paxton

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A train at 2220 on a strike day is quite an incredible achievement. ...

Not if you consider that the last train has been 2350 during previous strikes. The level of service provided during SWR strikes bears no comparison with the pitiful coverage during Northern strikes.

My feeling, as a layperson, is that the strike service may become more and more streched as the days pass. The level of service SWR managed to attain during previous strike days might be a bit if a misleading indicator as to what they might manage this time. But mine are nothing more than the musings of an outsider!
 

RailMad

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SWR have since confirmed that they are running a strike-timetable on 12th Dec.
 

kristiang85

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SWR have since confirmed that they are running a strike-timetable on 12th Dec.
Whilst I understand logistically the reasons behind this, does this mean some guards get paid to effectively do nothing given there are only half the trains? Which is another kick in the teeth for passengers who have been told they are due absolutely nothing from the disruption.
 

Goldfish62

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My feeling, as a layperson, is that the strike service may become more and more streched as the days pass. The level of service SWR managed to attain during previous strike days might be a bit if a misleading indicator as to what they might manage this time. But mine are nothing more than the musings of an outsider!
Yes, I agree. In previous strikes there has been a mix of cancellations due to no staff and additional services, presumably due to guards turning up for work.

I wouldn't be surprised if the pattern is more exagerated this time round. RMT are no doubt hoping the length of the action and time of year will prove too much for many contingency guards, while SWR are probably hoping that some guards won't want to lose a month's pay at the most expensive time of year.
 
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infobleep

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The curtailment of evening services is particularly annoying and is going to affect a lot of people's Christmas plans, mine included. Might just be able to catch the last trains between 22.30-23.00 after a show or concert, but aren't going to risk it with no safety net to fall back on. Last train from Basingstoke to Farnborough at 20.54 is very early too, though can go later if double back via Woking, which I can't see being an issue given the circumstances, even if not officially permitted.
Recently I went to a concert in Basingstoke and had to get a rail replacement bus due to engineering works. The journey planner suggested going via Woking to reach Farnborough was valid via this bus. So on that basis I don't see any issues.
 
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infobleep

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Yes, I agree. In previous strikes there has been a mix of cancellations due to no staff and additional services, presumably due to guards turning up for work.

I wouldn't be surprised if the pattern is more exagerated this time round. RMT are no doubt hoping the length of the action and time of year will prove to much for many contingency guards, while SWR are probably hoping that some guards won't want to lose a month's pay at the most expensive time of year.
I believe the equivalent of their basic salery is being funded via alternative means. Obviously that wouldn't cover overtime.

Although the guards are not striking on 12 December, the rolling stock won't be in the right place to run a normal service. There will be rolling stock in some of the sidings, e.g. Guildford, so maybe they can run additional services that day, as guards will need to be in. No idea if such a thing is possible from a diagramming point of view but they have run additional services where possible during actual strikes so it should be possible to run some.

The strike timetable will lead to the leaf fall timetables coming to a premature end, as trains via Cobham will be departing at x37. Currently they depart earlier to take into account the leaf fall season. I imagine other lines with leaf fall changes are the same.

There is still no mention of the Guildford to Farnham route and only Guildford to Ascot, despite the fact there are now 14 times as many services between Guildford and Farnham as there are Guildford and Ascot. Trains serving line via Cambley now mostly starts from Aldershot rather than Guildford.

The SWR poster stands say the strike is for 28 days but both LBC and The Evening Standard have said 27 days. I've not counted the dates up myself to see who is correct.
 

Dibbo4025

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I believe the equivalent of their basic salery is being funded via alternative means. Obviously that wouldn't cover overtime.

Although the guards are not striking on 12 December, the rolling stock won't be in the right place to run a normal service. There will be rolling stock in some of the sidings, e.g. Guildford, so maybe they can run additional services that day, as guards will need to be in. No idea if such a thing is possible from a diagramming point of view but they have run additional services where possible during actual strikes so it should be possible to run some.

The strike timetable will lead to the leaf fall timetables coming to a premature end, as trains via Cobham will be departing at x37. Currently they depart earlier to take into account the leaf fall season. I imagine other lines with leaf fall changes are the same.

There is still no mention of the Guildford to Farnham route and only Guildford to Ascot, despite the fact there are now 14 times as many services between Guildford and Farnham as there are Guildford and Ascot. Trains serving line via Cambley now mostly starts from Aldershot rather than Guildford.

The SWR poster stands say the strike is for 28 days but both LBC and The Evening Standard have said 27 days. I've not counted the dates up myself to see who is correct.

27 days of strike but swr are including the 12th since they're not planning on running a normal service that day
 

alistairlees

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There are 27 days of strike in December; and one day in January. So 28 in total.

Every day in December is a strike day except
1st
12th
25th
26th
 

infobleep

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There are 27 days of strike in December; and one day in January. So 28 in total.

Every day in December is a strike day except
1st
12th
25th
26th
Thanks for confirming that. So 28 it is and not 27p as reported by the media.
 

alistairlees

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No,its still 27 - count again
https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-announces-27-days-of-strike-action-on-swr/

According to the RMT's own website, it's 27 days "in December" (in paragraph 1), though the page title and URL simply state "27 days". The RMT article then repeats "27 days" (with mentioning December) further down.

The instructions to members are to strike on the days listed at the bottom of the page. They are:
2nd to 11th December inclusive (10 days)
13th to 24th December inclusive (12 days)
27th December to 1st January inclusive (6 days).

Adding these up I get to the total of 28 days.
 
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