Disruption fears over strike plan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/7314016.stm

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Rail operator South West Trains (SWT) has warned that services on many routes will not run if next week's four-day strike by train drivers goes ahead.

Hundreds of drivers are due to walk out from midnight on 31 March to 3 April after negotiations over pay and hours broke down last week.

Train drivers' union Aslef said 73% of its SWT members voted in favour of industrial action.

SWT said its 4.5% wage offer was "very good" in the current economic climate.

Aslef said it is "willing to meet management at any time before the action commences to attempt to resolve outstanding differences".

If they do go ahead we will pull out all the stops to run as many trains and buses as we can Stewart Palmer, managing director for South West Trains

The four-day stoppage could create chaos for the hundreds of thousands of passengers who use the services across the south and into London's Waterloo station.

The company said that some routes would still have a restricted train service while buses would replace trains on other routes.

But many stations will have no South West Trains service and passengers may have to make other travel arrangements, it added.

South West Trains said the offer would give a driver working in the London area a basic annual salary of £40,447 for a 37-hour week.

Stewart Palmer, managing director for South West Trains, said: "We regret the significant disruption this will cause to our passengers and we reassure them that we will do everything we can to avoid this strike taking place.

"However, if they do go ahead we will pull out all the stops to run as many trains and buses as we can.

"We are very disappointed that Aslef has taken this decision as we believe that this is a very good offer in the current economic climate."