WITH the threat of continuing strike action by RMT workers on Monday and Tuesday local rail users have been assured that South West Trains will be putting on more services to try and alleviate the disruption.

According to SWT managing director Andrew Haines, the aim is to run more than 500 train services on each of the days, serving mainline and outer suburban stations which, he says, should provide Òa significantly increased network of servicesÓ.

This compares to just under 200 trains on the first strike day (January 3) and to the 400 running on January 8.

While the direct coach service will no longer run from Alton to Waterloo, a two-hourly bus service will take passengers from Alton, Bentley and Farnham to Aldershot where they can link up with an hourly train service.

For those wanting to get to Guildford, there will be two trains an hour from Aldershot, with two trains an hour linking Guildford with Waterloo and six trains an hour departing Woking for Waterloo.

The dispute between South West Trains and the RMT appears to be no closer to resolution despite talks with the arbitration service ACAS.

Action general secretary Vernon Hince said that the RMTÕs decision to reschedule the strikes was to allow more time for meaningful negotiations to take place.

ÒWe have been calling for more talks since this dispute began and still remain hopeful of reaching a resolution,Ó he said.

Industrial action is now planned for Monday and Tuesday, with a further two-day strike called for Tuesday and Wednesday (February 12 and 13).

Mr Haines believes SWT has done and will continue to do everything possible to try to avert these strikes. But he refutes RMTÕs reasons for rescheduling the action

ÒWhen we have written to the RMT asking for more talks, they have not responded. Having been pressurised by staff, they worked out that one pay packet would be six days short and so cynically moved the strikes to the other side of the weekend,Ó he claimed.

Mr Haines continued: ÒWe have implemented a pay deal worth 7.6 per cent over 18 months, several times the present rate of inflation and which we believe to be the best deal in the industry. We did this after weeks of talks with the RMT, including intensive sessions with ACAS, as a constructive move to draw a line under this disruption.

ÒWe have made this award in good faith and hope our staff and the RMT recognise this and call off the planned strikes.Ó

Mr Hince is said to be adamant, however, that any arbitration should cover both areas of the dispute with SWT - Òpay conditions on the one hand, and the abuse of disciplinary procedures on the other.Ó

Alton Line UsersÕ Association (ALUA) chairman, Chris Campbell, disagrees. He is ÒappalledÓ by news of further strike action, believing the dispute should have been settled long ago.

He agrees with SWT that the pay dispute and the issue of disciplinary procedures should be dealt with separately and says that the general feeling among local commuters seems to be that the pay settlement on offer to the RMT is a good one.

Mr Campbell is unhappy, in particular, about the mid-week strike which he believes will cause Òmajor problemsÓ for SWT with more and more people opting to ditch the railway and work from home.

ÒIn the long term this could cause a tremendous loss of revenue for the railway with the RMT cutting off its nose to spite its face,Ó warned Mr Campbell.

While ALUA has no plans to back the Better Rail Advisory Committee passenger strike, tentatively scheduled for March 1, because it is felt many rail users cannot afford to take further time off work, there are plans afoot to stage a peaceful protest by refusing to show rail tickets on that day.