South Western Railway strike: New Year's Eve trains disrupted

The strike means hundreds of services are being cancelled each day

Rail passengers will face disruption on New Year's Eve as strike action over guards on trains continues.

Some 27 days of strike action by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union on South Western Railway (SWR) began on 2 December.

SWR said many services would finish earlier than normal - with no post-midnight mainline trains running beyond Basingstoke or Guildford.

The dispute over the role of guards started more than two years ago.

On new trains due to start running next year, SWR wants drivers to operate the doors at every stop to save time.

Union members want guards to decide when to close the doors.

Passengers have faced packed carriages during the strike

An amended timetable will continue to run on 2 and 3 January even though the strike will be over by then.

The train firm said it wanted to ensure that guards who were on strike were "properly refreshed" in terms of necessary safety activities.

At the weekend travellers will face further disruption with engineering work planned, so a new timetable will not start in earnest until January 6.

The strike means hundreds of services are being cancelled each day and many commuters have complained about overcrowded trains.

The union has called for fresh talks at the conciliation service Acas, although it is understood a date has not yet been set.

SWR says further talks must be on the proviso that the union has a "new solution" to safely delivering over 10 million more peak time passenger journeys on time a year.

The operator runs services between London Waterloo and Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth and Weymouth as well as Reading, Exeter and Bristol. It also operates suburban commuter lines in south-west London, Surrey, Berkshire, and north-east Hampshire.

The 27 strike days are as follows:

• From 00:01 GMT on Monday 2 December until 23:59 on Wednesday 11 December

• From 00:01 on Friday 13 December until 23:59 on Tuesday 24 December

• From 00:01 on Friday 27 December 2019 until 23:59 on 1 January