AS FEW as half of normal train services are set to run over the weekend amid the latest strike action by South Western Railway (SWR) staff in a row over the role of guards.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will walk out for 72 hours from Friday in the latest walkout in the bitter dispute over the future of guards on SWR services.

Around two thirds of normal services are scheduled for Friday but approximately 50 per cent of normal Saturday and Sunday services are not planned to run on Saturday and Sunday.

Bus replacement services will be provided, and ticket acceptance has been arranged on other rail and bus networks.

Customers can find full service information for Friday 31 August, including timetables, at southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/rmt-industrial-action.

Maps for Saturday and Sunday have also been published, with further service information and timetables to be confirmed and uploaded to the SWR website on Thursday.

A South Western Railway spokesman said: “As the RMT persists with this unnecessary action on the final weekend of the summer holidays, we are working hard to keep customers moving and minimise disruption as much as possible.

“Customers should check before they travel and expect services to be much busier than normal.”

Further RMT strike action is planned for September 8 and 15.