RAILWAY users face three more days of disruption in the next five weeks over the on-going dispute regarding guards on trains.

Drivers and rail staff on South Western Railway are now due to walk out on Friday, February 22, Saturday, March 9 and Saturday, March 16.

The decision to take industrial action was announced by the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) on Thursday.

In a fresh vote, 88 per cent of union members voted in favour of the strikes.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said the union had been forced to hold the ballot on the guard dispute.

“It is a disgrace that South Western Railway have yet again opted to play for time over the past six months rather than acting responsibly and getting round the table with the union to work out a solution to this dispute that puts safety and the guard guarantee centre stage," said Mr Cash.

"That is the package we have successfully negotiated in both Wales and Scotland and on a number of English franchises. It defies belief that we are being denied the same positive outcome on the South Western Railway routes."

The latest round of action would take the total number of strike days against South Western Railway since 2017 to 34.

A spokesperson for SWT said: "We have repeatedly committed to rostering a guard on all our services - the same assurance that seems to have been sufficient for the RMT to suspend its strikes elsewhere in the country only yesterday.

"No jobs are at risk and our plans over the course of the franchise mean we will need more guards, not fewer."