PICKETS were in action at railway stations in northern and eastern England today as workers took strike action in the long-running dispute to defend the jobs of guards on trains.

Privateer rail operators Northern Rail and Greater Anglia want to remove safety-critical guards to increase profits, despite evidence of guards’ key role in incidents including derailments and violent passengers.

Operators in Scotland and Wales have reached settlements on the issue with the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) following involvement of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.

But in England the Tory government is supporting and encouraging operators’ attacks on the guards’ jobs.

RMT said today’s strikes were “rock solid.”

General secretary Mick Cash said: “RMT members on Northern Rail and Greater Anglia stand rock solid and united once again this morning in separate disputes which are ‎about putting public safety and access before private profit on our railways.

“It is ludicrous that we have been able to negotiate agreements in Wales and Scotland that lock in the guard guarantee, but we are being blocked from reaching the same settlement across the North and Greater Anglia.

“A solution to these disputes is within our grasp, but the rail companies need to stop sticking their heads in the sand, get back round the table and work with the union to bolt it down.

“RMT members have shown extraordinary resilience and determination in the fight for rail safety and we thank the public for their continuing support and understanding.”