RAIL bosses have pledged to keep as many trains running as possible despite workers downing tools for a 48-hour strike this evening.

RMT members will down tools at 6.30pm for two days of industrial action over a row with First Great Western (FGW) about cuts to jobs, services and safety.

Members of the Rail and Maritime Transport (RMT) Union voted to strike over plans to axe guards and buffet cars on new Hitachi Inter City Express trains between London and Bristol.

Hopes for an 11th-hour reprieve were dashed on Monday when crisis talks broke down between the union and FGW.

However, in an open letter FGW managing director Mark Hopwood insisted the new trains are part of the firm's plans to deliver the biggest fleet upgrade of a generation and could not be stopped.

He added: "These trains are at the centre of our plans to deliver the biggest fleet upgrade on our network in a generation, helping create three million more seats a year and allowing us to bring you faster, more frequent journeys.

"Fully-equipped kitchens on every train will mean we will be able to serve quality hot and cold food directly to customers at their seats for the first time on any journey over an hour.

"And our proposals would also allow us to get you moving more quickly when things do go wrong and services are disrupted."

Mr Hopwood said that FGW could not deliver the improvements without the new fleet, but stressed that there would be more staff and managers on the new trains, not fewer.

However, while he insisted there would be no compulsory redundancies he said FGW will offer voluntary redundancies.

He added: "While we can't change that decision, we can make sure the transition for those people affected is as easy as possible - and we will offer a voluntary redundancy scheme."

Despite the staff walk-out FGW said that most of the trains through Oxfordshire should run as normal.

Routes from Banbury through Oxford to Didcot Parkway and Reading are expected to run on time, however there will be no FGW services to Weymouth, Portsmouth and Brighton.

Passengers with tickets booked tomorrow and Friday are being advised they can also use them today and on Saturday and to check before they travel.

Season ticket holders will be compensated for any impact to their journeys and FGW tickets will also be accepted by other operators.

Mr Hopwood said that although he hoped that strike action would not be necessary FGW would run as many trains as possible.

He added: "We had hoped this would be enough to avoid strike action, but unfortunately, the RMT did not endorse these proposals, so it is likely that strike action will affect our services from this evening to early Saturday this week.

"I'm sorry in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you and thank you for your patience."