UNION bosses have confirmed another round of train strikes will take place later this month.

Northern customers were already hit by action this week when members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) boycotted services.

However, ongoing disputes around the use of driver-only operated trains have led to the organisation announcing more strikes on Thursday, May 24, and Saturday, May 26.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “Northern Rail want to run half a million trains a year without a safety critical guard on board in a move that would wreck both safety and access ?to services and they should listen to their front-line staff and pull back from that plan immediately.”

A Northern spokesman said around 40pc of services were expected to run on the days.

They added: “These trains, and any replacement buses we run, are usually very busy. Therefore we ask our customers to carefully consider whether their journey is necessary.”

Problems are further compounded by ongoing staff shortages caused by driver training.