(Adds PM spokeswoman)
LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of traincommuters in London and southern England were facing misery onMonday as rail staff began a five-day strike in a safety rowover who opens and closes the doors.
Southern, which runs trains from destinations such asBrighton and Gatwick Airport, has said only 60 percent of itsservices would operate during the week-long stoppage, thelongest British rail walkout for almost 50 years, and no trainswould operate at all on some routes.
The strike adds to the problems of weary passengers who havesuffered months of cancellations and delays because of highlevels of staff sickness, while in July Southern axed 341trains, about 15 percent, to provide what it said would be amore regular service.
The dispute centres on the role of conductors, staff whocurrently have responsibility for opening and closing thecarriage doors. The RMT union, one of Britain's most militant,says Southern wants to extend the use of driver-only operatedtrains and so reduce the safety role the conductors play.
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Britain's largesttrain operator which owns Southern, says the changes would leadto fewer train cancellations as services would no longer requireboth drivers and conductors.
"Our fight is with the company and the government who havedragged this franchise into total meltdown," said RMT GeneralSecretary Mick Cash. "We share the anger and frustration ofpassengers and we cannot sit back while jobs and safety arecompromised on these dangerously overcrowded trains."
During mediation talks last week, the union said it hadoffered to call off the strike if GTR promised there would be asecond staff member on trains while negotiations continued.
However, the talks failed as GTR said in times ofdisruption, there might be occasions when they would let trainsrun with just a driver.
The company's Chief Executive Charles Horton said theirplanned changes would improve services for passengers and hadprovided guarantees about the future role of conductors but theRMT had refused to negotiate.
"The RMT union is letting everyone down and the action theyare taking this week is unnecessary, unacceptable andunjustified," he told BBC radio.
The opposition Labour Party accused the government offailing to help resolve the dispute because of an anti-unionagenda but Prime Minister Theresa May's spokeswoman said thestrike would not solve anything.
"It is not helping passengers travelling on these trainswhether people have concerns about safety or not," she said. (Reporting by Michael Holden and Kylie MacLellan; editing byStephen Addison)
