Welsh services disrupted as rail workers begin 48-hour strike

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-33430967

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Strike action by rail union members will see the number of some services from south Wales halved.

Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members begin the walkout at 18:30 BST on Wednesday.

This follows plans to scrap guards and buffet cars on First Great Western's new Hitachi Inter City Express trains.

Trains to London will run every hour instead of every 30 minutes and services to Devon and Cornwall will be every two hours instead of hourly.

The action is expected to have a major impact on passengers attending the second day of the first Ashes test in Cardiff on Thursday.

In the ballot, 80% of RMT workers supported strike action and 92% other forms of action.

First Great Western managing director Mark Hopwood said: "Forty-one per cent of RMT members who work for us voted in favour of this action and we are disappointed that our assurances over job security - the need for more, not fewer staff - and our commitment to maintaining existing pay and conditions for affected staff have not been heard."