WORKERS on Arriva Rail North are to stage a fresh wave of strikes in a long-running dispute about driver-only trains.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will walk out for three days from July 8 amid continued deadlock over staffing on new trains.

The union accused the company — which runs Northern Rail services that cover Bolton — of “digging their heels” in over the guarantee of a second safety critical member of staff on trains.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “The sheer intransigence of Arriva Rail North means that we have no option but to confirm a further round of strike action.

“The responsibility for the inevitable disruption lies wholly with the company. We are angry and frustrated that Arriva continue to ignore facing up to the facts and also continue to ignore a perfectly reasonable union proposal to invite the Department for Transport to join us in three-way talks aimed at finding a solution.”

A Northern Rail spokesman said: “The RMT’s dispute will be solved by talking, not by unnecessary strike action which impacts our customers, our employees, businesses and the economy of the North. Should the RMT strike action go ahead, we are committed to keeping our customers on the move as much as possible.”