STRIKES by Southern Railway train drivers will now hit the company at the end of January as well as next week.

Members of Aslef were due to walk out for six days from Monday in a bitter dispute over driver-only trains.

The union changed the dates to January 10, 11 and 13 but announced three fresh strikes on January 24, 25 and 27.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: "We are taking a longer-term view of this trade dispute. The company has not been prepared to move - it is simply going through the motions, turning up at Acas, as it did yesterday, and telling us that it intends to impose driver-only operation.

"We remain committed to a negotiated settlement, as was reached with ScotRail, but it is difficult to negotiate with people who are not prepared to be flexible.

"We still believe a deal can be done but we are, at the moment, a long way from that position.

"It is time for the company to come up with a genuine offer rather than carry on posturing."

The union had reduced next week's action out of consideration for how long the dispute will last and because of concerns from the public about the impact of a week-long stoppage.

Southern's passengers have suffered months of disruption because of industrial action, staff shortages and other problems.

Aslef members are currently banning overtime, which is leading to services being cancelled or delayed every day.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union is also embroiled in a dispute with Southern over changes to the role of conductors, which has led to a series of strikes.

Mr Whelan said Aslef members continued to have safety concerns about driver-only trains, claiming the union had raised issues which had been ignored.

A leaflet will be handed to passengers next week with images of platforms from monitors issued by the company, compared with photographs taken by drivers which are blurred and dark.

Mr Whelan accused the Government of being behind the dispute, saying the Transport Department had a "perverse belief" that driver-only trains would lead to quicker services.

He said there was a 25% shortage of drivers on Southern which is why the overtime ban was having such an impact.

He said he had great sympathy with passengers caught up in the chaos and revealed that some drivers had been verbally abused. But he added that his members were "incredibly angry" at driver-only trains being extended without agreement.

Aslef is involved in pay talks with Southern but Mr Whelan said they would not resolve the dispute over staffing.

A Southern spokesman said: "This is a cynical ploy to minimise the impact on Aslef's drivers' pay packets and maximises misery, disruption and hardship for passengers.

"Aslef's move shows pure contempt for the travelling public and it still causes massive disruption over next week.

"These strikes are pointless and they should call the whole thing off and let common sense prevail."

Rail Minister Paul Maynard said: "Fewer strike days will still cause massive disruption for passengers. I urge Aslef to call off these wholly unnecessary strikes and come to the table for talks.

"This modern way of running trains has been safely used elsewhere in the UK for 30 years. There is no safety issue; the independent rail regulator has confirmed it is safe.

"We are investing record amounts in improving our railways and we need everyone in the rail industry to work together to deliver for passengers."

Southern Rail said none of its train services will run during next week's drivers' strike.

It announced it is putting in place a number of alternative measures to try to help commuters who have essential travel needs.

The company is organising 200 coaches or buses each day to provide road links for essential travel from nine Southern stations into nearby neighbouring networks where they can connect with other train operators' services.

The fleet has been pulled from a wide range of bus and coach operators across the South East.

Southern is also advising people to work from home or remotely if they can, to stagger journeys if possible and to only travel if it is "essential" and allow plenty of extra time.

Passenger service director Angie Doll said: "There will be significant disruption and hardship next week caused by these pointless and unnecessary strikes. With this package of measures, we are putting in place a very limited number of alternative options to help people with essential travel needs get where they need to be.

"Unfortunately, there is no practical way we could replace 2,000-plus trains we run each day with buses, but what we are doing is providing transport to link some passengers into other operators' stations where services are running normally.

"These buses will run from a small number of stations and space will be very limited, so we are asking those who don't need to travel, or who have a viable alternative, to leave the space for those who have no other option. Anyone who does travel should expect to queue, plan for longer journeys and realise the service they join will be exceptionally busy.

"We are massively grateful to all the operators who are helping us in our efforts to keep passengers moving.

"This strike is futile - drivers are now operating the doors on over 75% of our trains and our on-board supervisors have moved into their new roles. It is now time the union move on too, and join us in delivering a modern railway for everyone."