PASSENGERS travelling in and out of Swindon experienced disruption to their journeys following the bank holiday weekend strike by rail union members.

Members of the RMT union walked out at midnight on Friday for a 72-hour protest regarding the introduction of a new fleet of trains.

As thousands made their way across the country, they encountered overcrowded trains, rail replacement buses and cancelled services which added many extra hours onto their journey time.

Joanne Moore, from Bristol, was one of many commuters who were irate at the timing of the latest strike.

“It has annoyed me to be honest because I’m not sure it achieves anything by walking out on a bank holiday weekend and disrupting travel plans. It has got on my nerves a bit that this has happened,” she said.

A Faringdon Park resident who did not wish to be named said the strike had played havoc with his travel plans. He said he had suffered a ‘nightmare’ journey as a result of overcrowding and limited catering facilities onboard FGW trains.

“I was travelling to Cardiff this week and it made things much more difficult,” he said.

“The trains were incredibly crowded and it was a bit of a nightmare really. You couldn’t even get a hot drink which was a joke. But I can see both sides of it, they feel strongly about this cause so they should be allowed to strike but doing it on a bank holiday is a nightmare.”

Most FGW services which run between London Paddington and Wales and South West England were running but on amended timetables.

Those with day passes to the Reading Festival had to set off earlier than expected while those visiting the West Country for the bank holiday weekend had to plan their journey around the strike action.

RMT said said they had no option but to strike following the breakdown of communications between FGW over jobs, services and safety.

A FGW spokesman countered by accusing the RMT of being unfair to travellers and their members by asking them to forgo a week’s pay.

Helen Crutcher, from North London, has family in the town and travelled to Swindon for a wedding. She said the strike forced her and partner Tom Mulvaney to cut short their bank holiday excursion.

“The strike has made us leave a bit earlier than we would have done otherwise and it definitely cost us more money than it would have done. I get why the union are doing it and it’s their right to strike, it’s just slightly inconvenient at times like this,” she said.

“We wouldn’t have chosen to leave this early normally but we want to make absolutely sure that we can get back in a reasonable amount of time. The trains are so unpredictable, you just don’t know.”

FGW said it was able to run 70 per cent of services over the weekend. The strike ends at midnight.