Weekday train services cut back as lockdown tightens

8 January 2021: South Western Railway has announced cuts to weekday train services in response to the worsening pandemic.

Writing to stakeholders, Phil Dominey, SWR Senior Regional Development Manager, says: "Throughout this pandemic, our priority has been to provide safe and reliable train services for all those key workers who are keeping our country running through this difficult time.

"As we enter a third national lockdown this commitment hasn’t changed. However, as cases of Covid-19 continue to rise, we, like many other businesses are feeling the effects.

"More of our colleagues are testing positive for Covid-19 or self-isolating. We also have a number of colleagues that are shielding due to being Clinically Extremely Vulnerable.

"Alongside this, with further restrictions in place, we have again seen a reduction in the number of customers travelling with us.

Therefore, in order to continue to provide a reliable service for those who need it, from Monday 11 January we will be reducing the number of weekday services."

He says online journey planners for the coming week have been updated and PDF timetables are available on the SWR website.

"However, further changes to timetables may need to be made at short notice, so we strongly recommend customers  check their journey closer to the time of travel.

"We’ll continue to keep this position under review so that we can again increase services when it’s appropriate to do so, taking account of Government policy and customer demand, and we’ll continue to keep you updated."