First Great Western talks resume over bank holiday strike

First Great Western's current fleet dates back to the 1970s

Talks between First Great Western (FGW) and trade unions are resuming in a bid to avert further strikes in a dispute over the introduction of new trains.

Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) members staged a 24-hour strike on Sunday, with a further walkout due over the bank holiday weekend.

The company said 70% of services ran and Monday trains were running normally after the action ended at midnight.

The union said the walkout had been "solidly supported" by members.

The dispute centres around staffing and on-board catering facilities on FGW's new fleet of Hitachi Inter City Express trains, with the union fearing guards and buffet cars will be disposed of.

RMT members staged a picket outside Exeter St David's Station on Sunday

Mick Cash, RMT general secretary has said: "Although we have held many hours of talks with First Great Western we have not been able to make enough significant progress over the core issues at the heart of the dispute - drivers being forced to take over door and despatch functions which downgrades the safety-critical role of guards, removal of catering services and the threat to jobs among the train maintenance engineers."

Union members held a 48-hour strike over the same dispute in July and are also due to strike from 29 to 31 August.

FGW has listed changes to its scheduled services for the bank holiday weekend.

FGW said services were reduced by 30% on Sunday

A FGW spokesman said talks so far had been "productive" and he was "hopeful" of a resolution.

He insisted the company's proposals would mean "more guards on trains and categorically no risk to jobs on board trains".

The company previously said allowing drivers to operate train doors was key to "faster, more frequent services".

The operator runs train services between London Paddington, south Wales, the Cotswolds, the Thames Valley region and the West of England.

The first Hitachi trains will run on the Great Western main line from 2017 and the East Coast main line from 2018.

The first Hitachi Class 800 Super Express train arrived in February for testing on the rail network