Rail strikes and works hits trains in Wales on Saturday

GWR has warned there be will fewer trains in or out of Wales on Saturday

There will be limited trains going in and out of Wales on Saturday, Great Western Railway has warned.

Strike action by unions, combined with engineering work, means some routes will grind to a halt.

GWR said it was "not a great weekend" for travel, adding that it was too late to change scheduled works.

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) wants better pay and working conditions for its members as part of the ongoing dispute.

As the latest round of strike action by the RMT takes place this weekend, rail operators are warning of disruption.

Transport for Wales is not involved in the industrial action, but it means it is unable to operate rail services on Network Rail infrastructure.

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It means most rail services across the Wales and Borders network will be suspended on 6 and 7 January and a busier service is expected on 8 January.

Meanwhile, GWR has confirmed there will be no direct trains from London Paddington and Cardiff on Saturday due to a combination of strikes and engineering works, but trains from south Wales to Bristol will still run.

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On Sunday, trains will be running on a diverted route via Bristol Temple Meads and Bath Spa before changing on to a different line to Reading. As a result, train services will take longer.

Paul Gentleman from GWR warned that it was "not a great weekend" for travel.

He added: "We normally look at a planning window of about 18 months in terms of planning engineering works.

"In actual fact this is engineering work that started over the Christmas period and it finishes off this weekend so it is an important piece of work to be done."

A vote before Christmas by union members means they have a mandate for further strike action over the next six months as union bosses described the current offer by Network Rail as "substandard".

The union also rejected an offer from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) - which represents train companies.

Fresh talks are due to take place between the government, unions and the RDG - which is conducting negotiations on behalf of all the train operators including GWR and Network Rail - on Monday.

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