FIRST Great Western staff are going ahead with strike action from tonight which will mean no services out of Dorset. 

Members of the RMT union across First Great Western services will take 48 hours of strike action between 6.30pm on Wednesday, July 1 and 6.29pm on Friday, July 10, with a possible ban on overtime on Saturday July 11. 

Talks aimed at settling the dispute - over plans to axe guards and buffet cars on First Great Western's new Inter City Express trains - broke down on Monday afternoon. 

Last minute talks are believed to be taking place between the RMT union and First Great Western in a final attempt to avert the strike. 

FGW, which runs trains from Weymouth to Bristol and services to Devon and Cornwall, says there will be no service on the Weymouth-Westbury line and revised services on its other lines. Full details of the changes are here.

Bournemouth Echo:

It could mean extra passengers on South West Trains services from Weymouth as commuters try to find alternative routes of travel. 

General secretary Mick Cash said: "RMT has made every effort to secure a series of very basic assurances from FGW over jobs, services and safety as a result of the introduction of the new Hitachi fleet and they have shown no intention of addressing those issues in the talks today.

"RMT is angry and disappointed that the company have ignored the massive vote for action by their staff and have instead opted to plough ahead with a series of actions that will decimate jobs, services and safety.

"It is frankly ludicrous that East Coast, who are introducing the same trains, have given us the assurances we are seeking but FGW have ignored us and are crashing on with the ripping out of buffet cars and the threat to safety-critical station and train staff purely to maximise the profits from new trains bought for them by the British taxpayer."

A FGW spokesman said: "All we want is to make sure our services give the best possible deal for our passengers. These brand new trains have been designed to deliver more seats, and faster, more frequent journeys for passengers - but we can't deliver those if they are operated in the same way as the 40-year-old trains that run today.

"We have already made assurances about job security and commitments to increase the number of staff on board Super Express Trains.

"We have made a number of additional commitments that we believe meet the concerns of the RMT, while still allowing us to deliver the improvements our customers want to see.

"While it is disappointing that the RMT were not able to take this proposal away today, we believe a negotiated solution to these proposals is possible, and are keen to continue discussions as soon as possible."