RMT announce Southern strike on day of Brighton v Crystal Palace
The RMT have announced further strikes on the Southern Rail network over who gets to push a button to open the door on trains, with one of their 24 hour walk outs set to fall on Monday January 8th – the day Brighton and Hove Albion take on Crystal Palace at the Amex.
When the draw for the FA Cup Third round pitted the Albion against Palace, most expected it to be held on either a Saturday or Sunday lunchtime given the trouble that occurred during the league game between the two sides in November.
There was shock then when it was announced it would take place on another weekday evening, with Paul Barber saying that the date had been selected due to their being planned engineering works over the weekend which would make it impossible to run a safe match day train service. The selection of a Monday night of course had nothing to do with the money BT Sport would pay to broadcast it live.
Well, now that safe match day service is in jeopardy with the RMT’s announcement made earlier today. Most of us are so bored by this nonsense that has been going on for over a year between a shit government, an incompetent rail company and a Luddite union who are stuck living in the 1970s that we’ve forgotten what it is all about.
We’re not sure many people really gives a toss who opens the door of a train. What we do know is that previous strikes have had seen attendances dip and people to struggle to get to and from the Amex – something that will be a potential firecracker given the volatile nature of the fixture and that the majority of Palace fans will come by train.
On previous strike days, the Albion have actually been superb in putting on alternative park and ride sites and laying on extra buses to get people to and from the Amex. But there is a world of difference in doing so on a pleasant August Friday against Nottingham Forest and a cold, January night against Palace.
Strike days have of course been postponed or cancelled before but either way, we’re sure the Albion, Southern and Sussex Police are delighted with the RMT for throwing another potential grenade into what was already an munitions factory of a fixture.
