Strike threat looms over FirstGroup's new South Western franchise

Less than two weeks into its stewardship of the South West franchise, the FirstGroup-MTR consortium is facing the threat of strike action over the role of guards on its trains.

The franchise - which operates services out of London Waterloo through the capital’s south and west and into large swathes of southern England - had been operated by Stagecoach since the privatisation of British Rail, with that operator consistently placing guards on all services.

However, the new operator - a joint venture of FTSE 250 transport firm FirstGroup and Hong Kong metro owner MTR, which started running the franchise on 20 August - has made no such promises.

Now, the RMT union has declared a “formal dispute”, preparing a ballot of members on South Western Railway, seeking strike action.

The union claimed that the franchise holder had failed to give “clear, cast-iron assurances” over the future of guards on the trains.

“RMT has given repeated opportunities for First MTR to give us the assurances we have sought over the future role of the guards on their trains throughout the length of the new South Western franchise,” said RMT general secretary Mick Cash.

“They have refused to give us those guarantees and it is that failure which leaves RMT with no option but to declare a formal dispute with the company and to move towards a ballot for action.”

Cash said the dispute could be “easily resolved” if the company made assurances to stick to existing agreements, giving staff and passengers a guarantee of a “second, safety-critical” member of staff on all current services.

“Guards on SWR have been hailed as “legends” in company publicity material.

“It is time for First-MTR to stand by those legends and to withdraw the threat to throw them off the trains.

The union remained available for talks, Cash said.

It came as the union accused another operator - Southern - of bullying tactics around a small picket at Brighton railway station on Friday morning.

RMT and Southern - an operating division of Govia Thameslink Railway, itself a majority-owned unit of FTSE 250 firm Go-Ahead - have been locked in the longest ever industrial dispute on the railways , also over the role of guards.

Numerous strikes and disruptions since early 2016 have caused havoc for many commuters from South London, Surrey and Sussex, although the union did indicate earlier this week that the dispute appeared to be coming to an end.

On Friday, however, the RMT union said a picket of seven members at Brighton was approached by Southern managers, accompanied by the British Transport Police, and told to leave the property.

The union claimed the managers had no right to make the request, as the picket was reportedly organised in a lawful manner, and the property’s actual owner - Network Rail - had not made the request.