More strike action on Sussex's railways today
Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Southeastern services are affected
We’re at the start of a several days of disruption for commuters in Sussex, as around 40,000 members of staff walk out across the country.
Three unions - the RMT, Unite and the TSSA - are all staging 24 hour walkouts on Thursday (August 18th) in a continuing dispute over pay and conditions.
Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Southeastern services are all affected.
Meanwhile, electric control room staff with Network Rail working at Brighton railway station, who control power to the tracks, are also taking industrial action.
Southern and Thameslink will run only a limited number of services between Brighton and London Victoria or London Bridge on strike days, with services passing through only a small number of stations in West Sussex, including Gatwick Airport.
There will also be a couple of hourly services between Brighton and Hove only.
No Gatwick Express services will run at all on strike days.
Southeastern will not be running any services between Hastings and Charing Cross on days with strike action.
Another strike day's planned for Saturday (20th August) and we're also warned that morning services will be affected tomorrow (Friday 19th) and Sunday (21st August) as well, due to trains and staff being in different locations, and signal staff not starting work until later than normal.
People have already been advised by train operators to seek other means of travel for the rest of this week.
Angie Doll, Chief Operating Officer at Govia Thameslink Railway, which operates Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express, said:
“We’re very sorry that our strong advice to passengers is to travel by rail only if absolutely necessary on Thursday 18 August and Saturday 20 August.
"Strike action by RMT members means train services across the country will be significantly limited once again, with many routes not running at all.
“Services for the whole period between the 18 and 21 August will also start much later in the morning than usual, so please travel later in the day if you can. First trains will be extremely busy and therefore you may not be able to board.
"Trains on strike days will also finish as early as 4.30pm so please plan ahead if you absolutely have to travel on these days.
“We’re so disappointed that rail disruption due to strikes is affecting our passengers again. We urge the RMT to work with the industry and come to a resolution.”