ALMOST a month of RMT strikes on South Western Railway could yet be averted, after new talks were agreed,last night.

Both sides are meeting at the conciliation service ACAS today, in an eleventh-hour bid to hammer out an agreement about on-train staffing and the future role of guards.

At the moment, SWR and its passengers are bracing for walkouts on nearly every day in December, starting on Monday. New Year’s Day will also be a strike day.

Last night, the RMT said: ‘Following a further exchange of correspondence both RMT and SWR have agreed to talks through ACAS tomorrow.

‘The RMT team will be led by general secretary Mick Cash and we believe that there is a deal there to be done and the union will work tirelessly to secure that objective.’

SWR had said its usual timetable would be cut by about half if the walkouts went ahead.