If you were hoping to take the train from Bournemouth or Poole next Wednesday or Thursday you might want to rethink your journey.

South Western Railway (SWR) is urging customers only to travel by rail if absolutely necessary for the planned RMT strike day on 27 July.

The latest information is on www.southwesternrailway.com/strike

The reduced service levels will see significant parts of the network closed entirely and those trains that are running will be far less frequent compared to normal.

Network Rail and more than 2,100 SWR RMT members are set to take strike action on Wednesday 27 July, causing severe disruption.

Network Rail will provide contingency cover for critical roles including electrical control room operators, signallers, maintenance and response teams, but will not be able to cover the whole day.

SWR’s reduced timetable will run from 7.15am to 6.30pm on strike day.

Significant disruption is also expected on Thursday 28 July, when there will be a late-starting service, with first trains operating much later than usual. Customers should check before they travel.

The RMT has announced further strikes will be taking place on Thursday 18 and Saturday 20 August.

South Western Railway’s managing director, Claire Mann, said: “The scale of the planned industrial action limits the number of trains we can run and routes we can serve, resulting in the severely reduced service we are able to operate on the strike day.

“We are sorry that strikes will again cause such disruption, and we are grateful to our customers for their continued cooperation, patience, and understanding as the rail industry works to end this damaging nationwide strike action.”