Staff reporter(wp/es):
A Southern Railway strike set to cause Christmas travel chaos has been moved forward.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are embroiled in a bitter dispute over changes to the role of guards and have launched a series of strikes which have disrupted services.
They were due to stop work for three days from December 22, but this has been changed to a 48-hour stoppage from the 19th.
The RMT said the move followed consultation with its members affected by the dispute as well as passengers.
Other strikes the union has called, from December 6-8 and from New Year's Eve to January 2, remain in force.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "Our guards on Southern are in daily contact with passengers and the support for our fight to defend safety remains phenomenal.
"RMT is truly grateful for the overwhelming public backing for the campaign to keep a second, safety-critical member of staff on Southern trains.
"It is from that daily feedback from passengers that the union has taken the decision to alter the dates for action over Christmas. That's the difference between us and Southern. We listen, they don't."
The leader of another union in dispute with Southern Railway has warned that driver-only operation is "inherently unsafe".
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said drivers have just two seconds to check 24 sets of doors, often on trains carrying more than 1,000 passengers.
Aslef is launching a work to rule next week and is planning a series of strikes later this month, crippling services on Southern, which is already being hit by the separate row over the role of guards and issues such as a shortage of staff.
Mr Whelan was responding to a letter by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to a Conservative MP, about the industrial disputes.
The minister told Brighton MP Simon Kirby that industrial action on Southern was politically motivated, saying Aslef had accepted driver-only operation (DOO) on the Brighton mainline.
More than 60% of trains on the Greater Thameslink Railway, which includes Southern, have DOO, said Mr Grayling.
"I recognise the very real concerns that you and your constituents have about this, but we cannot allow the unions to dictate how or whether the railways should be modernised or not.
"They are seeking the right to determine when a train should be cancelled to inconvenience passengers, even in circumstances when this doesn't need to be the case. In recognition of the very real problems that this is causing, I will be writing to you later this week with details of a compensation package for Southern passengers," said Mr Grayling.
Mr Whelan said: "It's been our policy for more than 15 years to try to eradicate driver-only operation because DOO is inherently unsafe.
"DOO was designed for three-car 317s on the Bedford to St Pancras line in the early 1980s when it was all about managed decline at the fag end of British Rail.
"An increase in the number of passengers we are carrying every day means there are now 1,100 passengers on a 12-car train and a driver will have just two seconds to check 24 sets of doors and that's simply not adequate to deal safely and properly with the travelling public.
"Protecting passengers, and our members, in the 21st century is being applauded by many of the travelling public, who can see through the political machinations and misinformation of the Government and the Department for Transport."
Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said: "Trains where drivers close the doors are safe. Numerous independent safety experts have confirmed this. Such trains have been operating safely on Britain's railway for 30 years and they run in countries around the world.
"If the railway is to provide the better services that passengers want and the country needs, it has to change to harness modern technology and smarter ways of working."
