A £86 MILLION government “bailout” for a train company facing nearly a month of strikes over the role of guards on trains was condemned by rail workers today.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash criticised the Tories for giving South Western Railway (SWR) the lump sum to compensate the firm for profits lost during the strike action.

The union has also accused the government of making a politically motivated move against workers by removing any incentive for SWR management to try to avert the walkouts through negotiation.

Workers on SWR, which connects London, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire and Wiltshire, will walk out for 27 days in December, with the first strike due to start on Monday.

The action is related to the long-running dispute over the removal of guards from trains across the national network, with workers insisting that the safety-critical roles must be protected.

Negotiations aimed at averting the strikes were called off on Thursday, as the company rejected a union proposal to ensure that the guard had an “integral and guaranteed role” on all trains.

In July, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, responding to a question by Labour MP Kate Hoey, said the exact size of the government payments made to train operators are “subject to commercial confidentiality.”

However, the union has said that reports to investors show the true extent of the payments, with one document from SWR managers saying: “We’re doing a lot of work behind the scenes to work through what we think the impact should be and what we think we’re due.”

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "This £86 million taxpayer-funded government bailout means SWR will be paid by the government even when they don’t run trains on strike days.

“Fat-cat rail bosses won’t lose a penny and have no incentive to settle.

“This is an astonishing political intervention by the government during the general election that deliberately politicises and prolongs this dispute.”

An SWR spokesman said: “To suggest we’re making money from these strikes is frankly absurd.”