VOTE: No rail service for Worthing if strike goes ahead

Rail union RMT announced on March 19 that 54 per cent of signalling and supervisory staff had voted to strike over working conditions and the threat of around 1,500 redundancies.

If the industrial action goes ahead, all stations west of Hove will be without rail services from 7am on Tuesday until 7pm on Friday.

See a map showing where reduced rail services will operate on Southern Railways here.

Worthing commuters reacted to the strike threat with a mix of anger and frustration, as well as a degree of sympathy.

Commuter reaction

Sophie Lane, 20, a sales executive and amateur actress, commutes to Worthing daily from Portslade.

She said: "I can understand why they're doing it but, at the same time, they need to realise how many people it's going to affect."

IT manager Adam Monnery, 32, who commutes daily to London Bridge from Worthing, said just three staff members from his team of nine were unaffected by the strikes, which would also cause delays to company projects and stock deliveries.

He added: "I have no sympathy for them as Network Rail is only doing what every large company has been doing for the past 18 months and making savings, with regard to the 1,500 job losses, etc."

But Janine Nicholson, 58, a receptionist who commutes to Worthing from Angmering, said she understood the reasons behind the strike. "What will I do? I shall get the bus, and quite happily, too, as I fully support a strike that fights job cuts which would inevitably lead to a poorer service and threaten rail safety.

"It's about time business and industry started to think more about the efficiency of its workforce and the needs of customers and less about undeserved bonuses for directors and the greed of shareholders."

Limited services

A spokesman for rail company Southern said limited services would still be provided on some Sussex routes.

He advised London commuters to try to get to Horsham or Brighton and catch trains.

Network Rail and the RMT union were due to attend the High Court in London on Wednesday, March 31, after the Herald went to press, where Network Rail were due to take legal action to end the strike threat.

Have your say

Do you agree with workers taking strike action?

Vote yes or no in the panel to the right of the screen.

What do you think?

What alternative approach should workers make instead of striking?

Have you been on strike? Did it work?

Share your views, comment below, email the Herald or write in to Readers' Letters, Worthing Herald series, Cannon House, Chatsworth Road, Worthing, BN11 1NA. A full name and address is required for publication.

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