Today marks the beginning of a 27-day strike which is set to bring travel chaos to commuters travelling in and out of Bristol because important railway routes will be disrupted.
Throughout December, no South Western Railway service will run between Bristol Temple Meads and Yeovil Junction, and between Bristol Temple Meads and Salisbury.
This is due to talks between the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and SWR breaking down over a long-running dispute over guards on trains.
The travel chaos is likely to cause travel disruption to commuters travelling into Bristol from key areas including Keynsham, Bath, Trowbridge, Westbury, Frome, Yeovil, Warminster and Salisbury.
Great Western Railway (GWR) will still be running train services between Bristol Temple Meads and Yeovil Junction and between Bristol Temple Meads and Salisbury.
SWR are operating a revised timetable on other routes and will provide longer trains to increase capacity where possible.
Passengers will be able to use their SWR tickets - including advance tickets - on GWR services at no extra cost.
However, increased passenger traffic is likely to lead to overcrowding on peak GWR routes.
GWR has also faced recent criticism over its already overcrowded train service between Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads and also between .
With increased passenger traffic on GWR services and the potential for GWR to run two carriage services during peak trains, this is likely to lead to passenger overcrowding and delayed or cancelled services.
Pressures will be added to the train service because of the Christmas period.
Over the next few weeks, people will be using the train service to travel back home, do Christmas shopping and visit Christmas markets in the area, such as the one in Bath, which saw 'chaos' and people 'nearly fighting' over seats on trains at the weekend.
The RMT have said SWR have "point-blank refused" to show any serious movement at talks held at the conciliation service Acas.
General secretary Mick Cash said the union was "angry and frustrated that a set of proposals that would have guaranteed the safety-critical role of the guard at the point of dispatch, and which would have cost the company absolutely nothing, have been kicked back in our faces."
SWR said it has offered "a guard on every train, and a safety critical role for that guard."
A spokesman said: "What we are not prepared to compromise on is the much-needed modernisation of the service with improved performance, safety and customer service that our new fleet of modern suburban trains will vitally deliver for customers."
Strike days are as follows:
- From 00:01 GMT on Monday 2 December until 23:59 on Wednesday 11 December
- From 00:01 on Friday 13 December until 23:59 on Tuesday 24 December
- From 00:01 on Friday 27 December 2019 until 23:59 on 1 January
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