TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes urged conference to support his plans to take the union forward in an independent capacity after the plans to merge with Unite fell through.

Cortes highlighted how one of the sticking points in negotiations with Unite had been its insistence that there would only be 10 organisers from TSSA.

He outlined how this would not work in a fragmented industry like rail, geographically widespread with 20-odd employers.

The union has already undertaken a programme of savings that has seen cuts of more than a quarter in paid staff.

Mr Cortes pledged that “there won’t be a future headcount increase unless there is a sustainable increase in membership.”

He accepted though that the process was one that has “caused pain, pain and more pain” but that he was confident that union would come through it stronger and more resilient.