SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) passengers travelling between Alton and London Waterloo over the Christmas/New Year period should note that train times will change between this Saturday (December 22), when the RMT union has announced its intention to hold a 24-hour strike, and Thursday, January 3, to facilitate engineering works.

On December 23, SWR will run a Sunday timetable, while on Christmas Eve (Monday) there will be a Saturday timetable until about 7pm when a revised service will run, with many late-evening trains being cancelled or not running to their normal destinations.

The network will shut down completely by around 10pm. There will be no trains running across the network on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Limited ‘Saturday’ services will resume on Thursday, December 27, when the RMT has ordered a further 24-hour strike, and December 28, with a Sunday timetable in place on December 30.

Finally, a Saturday timetable will be in place on Monday, December 31, coinciding with the final planned day of RMT industrial action. On New Year’s Day, extra trains will run during the early hours. Check before you travel at southwesternrailway.com.