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Southern Rail strikes: RMT announces new strike date over Driver Only Operation (DOO) row

Rail users will have to deal with more strike action on the Southern Rail network.

Union bosses confirmed members will walk-out for 24 hours on Tuesday, May 30 over Southern's plans for 8,000 trains a year to run without a guard on board.

The RMT announced strike action for its drivers and guards, while Aslef - the train drivers' union - also announced today it will be bringing in its driver overtime ban.

A Marshlink train passing through Appledore. The Southern route heads from Ashford via Hastings to Brighton
A Marshlink train passing through Appledore. The Southern route heads from Ashford via Hastings to Brighton

Aslef's overtime ban is set to cause disruption to a quarter of Southern's 2,200 trains a day.

The issues are because the operator relies on driver overtime to run its full daily timetable.

The date for Aslef's driver overtime ban has not yet been announced, but is set to cause chaos on the network as it did earlier in the year.

The long-running dispute about Southern's plan to run "driver only operation" has led to several periods of strike action already.

RMT members will not work between midnight and 11.59pm on the strike day.

The union says the measures Southern wants to introduce are unsafe for both members and the travelling public, especially disabled passengers.

It said they had been left "with no option but to continue with the campaign of industrial action".

RMT general secretary, Mick Cash, said: "We have met with the company but there is a massive gap of over 8000 trains a year that GTR have confirmed will run without an OBS on board.

"That represents a serious safety and accessibility risk and short of the guarantee of a second safety qualified member of staff on Southern services we have no option but to confirm a further day of strike action."

He called on Southern and the government to "face up to their responsibilities and engage in genuine and serious talks" to address their concerns.

Southern runs services in Kent from Ashford International to Sussex via Rye and Hastings and from Tonbridge via Redhill, in Surrey, to London.

The strike action has seen more than 20,000 trains cancelled and thousands more disrupted.

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