TRANSPORT for Wales has warned of three days of rail disruption this week even though its staff are not involved in strike action.

Train drivers’ union ASLEF is striking at 16 companies for two days, including some which run cross-border services in Wales, such as GWR (Great Western Railway).

Another transport union, the RMT, will hold its own day of industrial action.

That means fewer services will be travelling along the South Wales Main Line on strike days, which began today (Wednesday) and will resume on June 1 and 2.

Wales’ main rail operator Transport for Wales (TfW) has warned its services are likely to be a lot busier as a result of “the severely-reduced timetable put in place by other operators”.

Busy routes today include services travelling from Newport to Cardiff and Severn Tunnel Junction.

The last TfW services from Manchester Piccadilly will be cancelled “due to overcrowding concerns”, the firm added.

Busy trains are also expected on Friday and Saturday due to the reduced frequency of other operators’ services.

Why are rail staff on strike?

Members of ASLEF are holding strikes on Wednesday and Saturday this week as part of long-running disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.

The union’s general secretary Mick Whelan said no negotiations aimed at resolving the bitter row are taking place, while the UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT) insisted it has “facilitated a fair and reasonable pay offer”.

Speaking at a picket line on Wednesday, Mr Whelan said: “There are no negotiations since they came out with yet another deal that contained all our ‘red lines’.

“If you spend months in a room, tell people things aren’t acceptable to you, then they produce a deal that contains those things then they are setting the deal up to fail.

“That is a deliberate act on behalf of both the [UK] Government and the people that we’re dealing with.

“They do not apparently want a resolution.”

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) has called a strike on Friday.

The unions say they have not been given a pay offer it can recommend to their members, and claim the UK Government is preventing the train companies making an acceptable offer, which ministers deny.

A DfT spokesperson said: “These strikes have been co-ordinated by union leaders to disrupt passengers in a week which will see major events such as the first ever all Manchester FA Cup final, the Epsom Derby and a number of concerts and festivals across the UK.

“Not content with impacting the hundreds of thousands of people who have looked forward to these events all year round, unions are also targeting their own members’ pockets by forcing them to miss out on pay every time they strike.

“The government has facilitated a fair and reasonable pay offer, now union leaders must do the right thing and put this to their members.”

Additional reporting by Neil Lancefield, Alan Jones and Tom Wilkinson, PA Media.