A six-day Southern Railway strike due to take place next week has been cut to three days, it has been announced.
The strike was expected to take place between Monday and Saturday, however Aslef, the driver’s union, said on Wednesday it would be halved.
Next week's action will now be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, but not on other days.
The general secretary of Aslef, Mick Whelan, said the move did not mean the union was rolling back and warned of further strikes.
He said the union’s executive would meet later this month and that more strikes were likely.
Next week’s action has been reduced 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, the union said.
A Southern spokesman dismissed the announcement as a “cynical ploy", saying Aslef's intention was to "minimise the impact on Aslef's drivers’ pay packets and maximise misery, disruption and hardship for passengers".
He added: “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.”
The walkout is in protest against the introduction of the driver-only operation of trains, and Southern has already advised passengers not to travel while it is taking place.
Southern passengers have suffered months of disruption because of industrial action, staff shortages and other problems.
Aslef is currently banning train driver overtime, which is causing daily disruption with many services cancelled or delayed.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union is also embroiled in a dispute with Southern over changes to the role of conductors, which has led to a series of strikes.
