Train passengers in Dorchester have been urged only travel if absolutely necessary from Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18 due to the planned national RMT industrial action.  

Members of the RMT at Network Rail are set to take strike action on December 13, 14, 16, and 17. significantly limiting the rail infrastructure available to run services. 

Dorchester South - South Western Railway

More than 2,100 South Western Railway members of the union will join the strike action. 

Customers should expect severe disruption on strike days. Significant parts of the SWR network will be closed entirely, including through Dorchester South, and those trains that are running will be far less frequent and much busier compared to normal. 

On Thursday, December 15 and Sunday, December 18, the knock-on impact of the strike days means first trains will start much later than usual across the network and are likely to be very busy – customers are asked to avoid these if they can. 

SWR's reduced timetable will run from 7.15am to 6.30pm on December 13, 14, 16 and 17. 

This will include:

• Four trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside   
• Two semi-fast trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Basingstoke  
• Four trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Woking  
• Two fast trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Southampton Central 

Trains will not stop at all the stations on these routes. There will be no SWR services across the rest of the network, including through Dorchester South.

In addition, the RMT has announced that its members at SWR and other train operating companies have been instructed not to book on for any overtime from Sunday, December 18 to Monday, January 2. 

SWR will update customers once it has confirmed what service levels it can provide during this period.

Customers are urged to check the SWR website for latest information here. 

South Western Railway's Performance and Planning Director, Steve Tyler, said: "We appreciate that customers will be eager to enjoy the festive season, so we're really sorry that we must urge them to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary from Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18.

"The nationwide strike action means we can only operate a severely reduced timetable from 7.15am to 6.30pm only, with much of the network closed entirely. 

"The strike period will be followed by two weeks of further disruption on the network, as the RMT has instructed their members not to book any overtime until January 2. 

"After months of damaging strike action, we are grateful to our customers for their continued cooperation, patience, and understanding as the rail industry works to bring this dispute to an end." 

Dorchester West - Great Western Railway

A reduced, revised timetable will operate across several train operators, including Great Western Railway (GWR) between December 13 and 18.

On strike days (December 13, 14, 16 and 17) only an extremely reduced service will operate on a limited number of routes. Some parts of the GWR network will have no service at all, including through Dorchester West.

Services will start later at 7.30am and all journeys must be completed by 6.30pm.

On December 15 and 18 a reduced timetable will operate, and trains will start later. There could be short-notice cancellations and alterations. 

Should strike action be called off, there will still be considerable disruption across the rail network while work is carried out to restore timetables. 

From Monday, December 19 to Saturday, December 24 a full timetable is planned to run. However, trains will finish much earlier than usual on Christmas Eve and customers should check their journey before travelling, travel earlier in the day and you are advised to reserve a seat on services. 

It is strongly recommend that anyone travelling on Christmas Eve plans to finish their journey by lunchtime that day.  

On the days affected, passengers are advised to find an alternative way to travel. Where services are running, customers should only travel by train if absolutely necessary, and it is highly recommended that a seat reservation is made. Other train operators are also affected by this action, so onward travel could also be affected. 

 Where services are running, they are expected to be extremely busy and we are not able to provide bus replacement services. 

 Customers who have already purchased tickets for strike days can claim a full refund or amend their ticket; those who travel and are delayed may be entitled to Delay Repay compensation if they are delayed by 15 minutes or more.  

To help customers, tickets will be valid for travel on alternative days on GWR services as follows: 

• Tickets for 13, 14, 16, 17 December can be used the day before, or up to and including Tuesday 20 December
• Tickets for 24, 27 December can be used the day before (where applicable), or up to and including Thursday 29 December 

Season-ticket holders can apply for compensation through the Delay Repay scheme. 

For more detailed information, including when journey planners will be updated with the latest train times, please click here.