Southern rail strike will go ahead this week, court rules
Southern rail drivers will go ahead with their planned strike tomorrow after a judge backed the Aslef union over parent company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).
GTR made an urgent appeal last week, arguing the strike would bring services to a standstill.
Tomorrow will be the first of three strike days this week, and most routes will have no services.
Responding to the ruling, GTR's chief executive Charles Horton said:
Regrettably, there will be no train services for passengers tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday. We strongly advise people not to travel. In addition, there will be severe disruption every day during the ongoing industrial action because of the union's overtime ban.
Read more: Southern begs rail users to not travel tomorrow
Horton called the strikes "wholly unjustified and unnecessary" and said drivers are already safely operating a third of the UK's trains.
Mark Whelan, general secretary of Aslef said:
Industrial action is always the last resort. We don’t want to inconvenience the travelling public, and our members don’t want to lose money. We are going on strike because we have been forced into this position by an intransigent management that has not been prepared to negotiate with us.
Horton said GTR hoped to talk to Aslef over the weekend but Aslef would not agree.
Our aim is to find a resolution to their dispute so we can bring an end to the misery being suffered by the travelling public.