MERSEYRAIL have met for more talks with union bosses in a bid to resolve guards positions on new driver-only trains.

Independent conciliation talks between the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) chaired by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) began on Thursday, April 5 and have been ongoing since.

These talks were recommended by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram after demanding an outcome to the long-running dispute.

The dispute between RMT and Merseyrail relates to a new fleet of driver-only trains that will replace the current 40-year-old rolling stock in 2020 which RMT say will threaten the security of guards jobs on trains.

On Monday, both parties are believed to have discussed the outcome of a recent joint workshop which explored the idea of having a second guard on the new fleet of trains.

In a joint statement, they said: "At Monday's conciliation meeting facilitated by ACAS both the RMT and Merseyrail discussed in detail the outcome of their recent joint workshops which explored the RMT’s aspiration of having a second safety critical member of staff on the new fleet of trains.

"We will now present to Merseytravel the output of these combined talks and workshops for their consideration.

"The outcome of the talks will remain confidential until such time that Merseytravel have had time to give these their due consideration.

"Following this, it is anticipated that both the RMT and Merseyrail will meet for at least one further meeting with ACAS to discuss the considerations from Merseytravel."