First Great Western FGW High Speed Train, Paddington Station London. Image: Simon Pielow, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Transport union RMT has announced a five day strike.

Train operators Northern Rail, Greater Anglia and South Western Railways will all strike for twenty four hours on the 9th of May.

South Western Railways will strike for a further twenty four hours on the 11th, 14th, 16th and 18th of May.

The strike is part of an on-going dispute over driver-only trains.

RMT says the loss of guards compromises passenger safety.

The union’s website said:

The announcement of the action in the three disputes came as RMT members from across the country gathered outside Parliament today to mark the second anniversary of the guards’ safety dispute on Southern Rail, Britain’s longest running industrial dispute, and to reaffirm the campaign in defence of safe staffing on the rail network.