RAIL travellers who use Island Line train services will again face disruption as industrial action continues into May.

National industrial strike action by the ASLEF union — now into its second year — will affect South Western Railway (SWR) services from bank holiday Monday, May 6, through until Saturday, May 11.

There will be a revised timetable on Monday, with Island Line running an hourly service.

But a significantly reduced strike day service will run on a limited number of lines on Tuesday, May 7, with all Island Line services halted that day. 

Customers are advised to only travel by rail if their journeys are absolutely necessary.

For further travel information during industrial action in May

Full information can be found at southwesternrailway.com/strike

For those travelling from the Isle of Wight, there will be no trains to stations such as Southampton Central and Portsmouth Harbour, Reading, Bournemouth and Exeter St Davids on May 7. 

For commuters, trains will only run between: 

  • Basingstoke and Salisbury 
  • London Waterloo and Basingstoke 
  • London Waterloo and Feltham 
  • London Waterloo and Guildford via Woking 
  • London Waterloo and Woking 

And a revised timetable will be in operation from Wednesday, May 8, to Saturday, May 11, due to industrial action. 

On those days, Island Line will operate an hourly service only. 

Customers should check before they travel, as late notice cancellations are possible, say SWR.  

The latest industrial action follows several other days of its since January 3 last year.

“We are sorry to announce that, due to a ban on overtime working by the ASLEF union, there will be disruption," said SWR spokesperson.

“During next Tuesday's strike action, we are asking customers to only travel if their journeys are absolutely necessary.

"We will run a significantly reduced service with large parts of our network closed, with trains only running between 7am and 7pm.

“During the overtime ban, we are encouraging customers to check before travelling.

“We are very sorry for the disruption this industrial action will cause and are very thankful for our customers' continued patience.”