Fresh strikes called in train guards dispute

Workers on Arriva Rail North are to stage five fresh strikes on Saturdays in the run-up to Christmas in the long-running dispute over guards.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will walk out for 24 hours on November 17 and 24, and on December 1, 8 and 15.

The new action will take the number of strikes against the company to 41 since the bitter row over the role of guards on trains flared.

Strikes had already been announced for the next two Saturdays, leading to huge disruption to services.

The RMT also announced that it will ballot workers on Great Western Railway for industrial action over the sacking of a guard based at London's Paddington station.

David Brown, managing director of Northern, said: