A change in Southern Railway strikes over Christmas has been announced following a consultation with Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members’.

Members were due to strike for three days from December 22. It has now changed to a 48-hour period from December 19.

The RMT union is currently caught up in a dispute over changes to the role of guards and this had led to a series of strikes,which have disrupted rail services.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "Our guards on Southern are in daily contact with passengers and the support for our fight to defend safety remains phenomenal.

"RMT is truly grateful for the overwhelming public backing for the campaign to keep a second, safety-critical member of staff on Southern trains.

"It is from that daily feedback from passengers that the union has taken the decision to alter the dates for action over Christmas. That's the difference between us and Southern. We listen, they don't."

The other strike sin place are due to last from December 6-8 and from New Year’s Eve to January 2.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan, said: "It's been our policy for more than 15 years to try to eradicate driver-only operation because DOO is inherently unsafe.

"DOO was designed for three-car 317s on the Bedford to St Pancras line in the early 1980s when it was all about managed decline at the fag end of British Rail.

"An increase in the number of passengers we are carrying every day means there are now 1,100 passengers on a 12-car train and a driver will have just two seconds to check 24 sets of doors and that's simply not adequate to deal safely and properly with the travelling public.

"Protecting passengers, and our members, in the 21st century is being applauded by many of the travelling public, who can see through the political machinations and misinformation of the Government and the Department for Transport."

Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said that trains where drivers close the doors are safe.

Mr Plummer said: "Numerous independent safety experts have confirmed this.

"Such trains have been operating safely on Britain's railway for 30 years and they run in countries around the world.

"If the railway is to provide the better services that passengers want and the country needs, it has to change to harness modern technology and smarter ways of working.