Southern Rail strike suspended following request by British Legion

The strikes would have coincided with the charity’s Poppy Day appeals in British railway stations ahead of Remembrance Sunday

The strike would have been the latest action in the row over train conductors (EPA)

A planned strike by Southern Rail workers has been suspended following a request by the British Legion.

The planned 72-hour walkout by the Rail and Maritime union (RMT) was the latest in a series of actions over a proposal to introduce driver-only trains.

Unions argue that the plans to get rid of on-board conductors and make drivers responsible for closing all the doors on its commuter services because “passenger safety [must] be put before private profit”.

The strike was due to take place between 3 and 5 November when the British Legion is due to hold its annual poppy selling drive in UK railway stations.

General secretary Mick Cash said: “This decision has been made after close consideration and following a personal request from the British Legion.

“The union recognises the very special importance of that particular day and as a result has decided to suspend the action planned for November 3. The rest of the scheduled action goes ahead as planned.”

A spokesperson for The Royal British Legion told The Independent: “On Thursday 3 November 2016 The Royal British Legion will be hosting its annual London Poppy Day when 2,000 volunteers will hit the streets of London to raise £1m in the most successful, single-day collection of its kind across the UK.

“We recently placed a request with the RMT to reconsider the date of proposed strike action as our volunteers are present at train and tube stations across London, therefore strike action on that date would have a detrimental impact on our ability to fundraise for our much needed work in support of Service personnel, veterans and their families.”

Negotiations between the company and the union remain gridlocked as of Thursday morning.

The strikes have contributed to months of misery for commuters as the company cancelled hundreds of services with many more being seriously overcrowded.

Southern announced it will restore 63 more services to its timetables from Monday with a further 46 services returning by the end of the month.

But 33 Gatwick Airport services will not resume until December due to the company’s “autumn leaf-fall arrangements”.

In September, a group of disgruntled Southern Rail customers announced they were crowdfunding a judical review into the Department of Transport’s handling of the Southern Railway franchise.

The Association of British Commuters – set up following the chaos – said it was working with law firm Devonshires Solicitors to collect evidence of people losing their jobs because of cancelled trains as well as the disruption to home and family life.

Additional reporting by PA