A STRIKE date of Wednesday, July 8, has been set by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at First Great Western.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at First Great Western will walk out from 6.30pm on July 8 in a 48-hour strike over jobs and other issues.

The union said around 2,000 members will be involved in the action, including drivers and train crew.

The announcement followed a ballot which showed backing for strikes by 80%, and other forms of action by 92%. The union is in dispute over the introduction of new trains after seeking assurances over jobs, buffet car facilities and maintenance.

RMT 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 simply ignored us. We therefore had no option but to ballot all staff for action to force the company to take this issue seriously and the members have now voted decisively for action. That mandate will now be considered by the union.

"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 ahead 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.

"RMT remains available for talks and we expect the company to now take this dispute, and the issues at the heart of it, seriously."

A First Great Western spokesman said: "These new trains, the largest fleet upgrade on the Great Western for a generation, will shave journey times by as much as 17 minutes, and provide the capacity we know our customers want to see - but in order to be able to do this we need to operate these trains differently to the way we operate our current 40 year-old High Speed Trains.

"The best way to make the most of these new trains, in an efficient and safe way, is by the use of driver operation of the doors.

"Forty-one per cent of RMT members who work for FGW have voted in favour of this action and we are disappointed that our assurances over job security; the need for more, not fewer staff; and maintaining existing pay and conditions for those staff have not been heard.

"All of the issues raised by the RMT have been discussed with representatives and we believe we have made some progress. We are keen to talk further with the RMT to avoid our passengers and colleagues being impacted by strike action and we are seeking an early meeting with RMT."

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "This strike action is unnecessary and I want to see all parties involved get back round the negotiating table quickly to resolve this issue.

"This strike will disrupt hard-working people trying to get around, as well as hitting businesses and the economy."