STRIKE action is set is cause cancellations and delays on the Portsmouth to London Waterloo line, which is popular with Petersfield, Liss, Liphook and Rowlands Castle rail travellers.

The two day walk-out by drivers and guards on the network operated by South Western Railway is scheduled to start at midnight on Wednesday, November 8.

It will be the first time the line has been affected by industrial action, which has been launched by the Rail, Maritime, and Transport (RMT) union.

The dispute is over plans by network operators across the country to introduce driver only trains, a move that could affect passengers’ safety says the RMT.

Industrial action which began on the Southern Network in Sussex about a year ago, where driver only trains are now in service, has escalated to include four other network operators, including South Western Railway.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “Every effort that RMT has made to reach negotiated settlements in these separate disputes with the different train operating companies over safe operation and safe staffing has been kicked back in our faces and we are left with no option but to confirm a further phase of industrial action in early November.

“RMT remains ready for talks in each of these separate disputes.”

But in a letter to East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds, transport minister Chris Grayling insists the union is working to a political agenda.

The minister said: “The RMT is playing a political game, and I am disappointed some of your constituents who travel by rail will suffer in the process.

“The RMT leadership has been clear that they are seeking to engineer a national rail strike designed to launch a political challenge to the government.”

But the union says an incident on the Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour line on Tuesday, October 24, has highlighted the “critical role” guards can play.

An RMT spokesman said: “The shocking incident happened on the 14.59 service from Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour via Basingstoke which was struck by an object apparently thrown from an overbridge.

“The windscreen was severely damaged, so much so that the guard took up the second man position in the driver’s cab to assist the driver in getting the train into the station.”