LAST-minute talks between the RMT union and First Great Western have failed to halt a 48-hour rail strike which is to start at 6.30pm.

Thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at FGW are now expected to walk out, hitting services on some of the country's busiest rail routes.

The action, over jobs and maintenance of new Hitachi trains, will affect services between London and Wales and the West, hitting commuters and cricket fans going to Cardiff for the Ashes Test.

RMT leader Mick Cash met FGW bosses today in a bid to resolve the dispute but these broke down.

Mr Cash said: “At the present time, the company still feel that the configuration of the new Super Express Trains is out of their control and that it would be in their best interests to have Driver Only Operation and to remove the buffet cars. 

“That position is totally unacceptable and the union is clear that the design of the new fleet of trains is a matter for First Group and that there is still time to modify the rolling stock, exactly as has happened on East Coast who will be operating the same units.

“We were also unable to reach agreement on the future of the Fleet/Engineering Grades and FGW would not provide this union with assurance that the Transfer of Undertakings regulations will be adhered to."

In a ballot held last week 80% of workers supported strike action, with 92% supporting other forms of action.

The first Hitachi trains are due to run on the Great Western main line from 2017 and will run between London Paddington and Oxford, Bristol and South Wales.

FGW said if the strike went ahead it would operate a revised timetable, and warned that capacity would be limited.

First Great Western said the strike would lead to a revised timetable being operated.

If the strike goes ahead trains between South Wales and London will run every hour instead of half-hour, and services to Devon and Cornwall being reduced from hourly to every two hours. Seat reservations are unlikely to be honoured during the strike.

An overtime ban on Saturday could also lead to late changes or cancellations, the company warned.

The union accused First Great Western of "playing for time" during talks and "going through the motions" rather than addressing the issues.

The RMT said it is campaigning to avoid job losses, keep a safety-competent guard on every train, maintain buffet car facilities and ensure that the maintenance of new rolling stock remains in-house.

But in an open letter to customers today, First Great Western managing director Mark Hopwood said: "Later this evening the RMT has asked its members who work for First Great Western to take strike action over our proposals to introduce a new fleet of Super Express Trains from 2017.

"This coincides with the union's planned industrial action on the Tube and other train operators.

"These trains are at the centre of our plans to deliver the biggest fleet upgrade on our network in a generation, helping create three million more seats a year and allowing us to bring you faster, more frequent journeys.

"Fully-equipped kitchens on every train will mean we will be able to serve quality hot and cold food directly to customers at their seats for the first time on any journey over an hour. And our proposals would also allow us to get you moving more quickly when things do go wrong and services are disrupted.

"This is the kind of service should expect from a 21st century railway. But we can't deliver such improvements if these new, state-of the-art trains are operated in the same way as trains built in the 1970s.

"We know some of our colleagues are worried about the impact these changes may have on their jobs, which is why we have made a number of commitments, including:

- More, not fewer, colleagues on board trains, with their existing pay and conditions protected

- A safety competent train manager planned on every new train

- that's more train managers on more trains than there are today

- No compulsory redundancies for station and customer service staff

- Appropriate development opportunities and help for colleagues to apply for other roles if they don't want to work on the new trains

- Food and drink served by a member of staff on every journey over an hour on the new trains

"There will, however be an impact on some of our engineering depots when maintenance work on the new trains transfers to the train provider as part of their contract procured by government.

"While we can't change that decision, we can make sure the transition for those people affected is as easy as possible - and we will offer a voluntary redundancy scheme.

"Earlier this week we proposed additional commitments to address the concerns of the RMT and our colleagues, while still allowing us to deliver the improved service you, our customers, expect from a 21st century railway.

"We had hoped this would be enough to avoid strike action, but unfortunately, the RMT did not endorse these proposals, so it is likely that strike action will affect our services from this evening to early Saturday this week.

"We will be running as many of our trains as we can, but your journey may be affected. Please check before you travel at FGW.co.uk/strike

"In the meantime I am determined to continue talking to the RMT to try and find a way to resolve this matter, while making sure we can operate the new trains in a way that delivers the best possible service for our customers.

"I'm sorry in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you and thank you for your patience."

Earlier in the week 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."