The body representing 1,500 businesses in Liverpool city centre has described news Merseyrail staff are to go on strike again as "very disappointing".
Bill Addy, chief executive of Liverpool Business Improvement District Company, which represents the interests of 1,500 city centre firms, said the by the RMT will hit the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors in particular.
It's all over an ongoing row about guards on trains, with the dispute, which has lasted more than four years, having flared up once more.
The RMT said this week that after 15 months of talks, it has failed to reach an agreement with Merseyrail.
Mr Addy said: "Speaking on behalf of our levy paying businesses, in particular those from within the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors who rely on the train network to bring in customers to the city centre, I am obviously very disappointed that negotiations between the RMT and Merseyrail bosses have broken down after 15 long months of talks, especially as we all believed a solution was close to being met by both parties.
"Travel disruption of this nature will always have a negative impact on the city, certainly on the visitor economy, there's no getting away from that. I just hope that a solution can be found in the meantime to avoid any strike action.”
It comes after it was announced union members will stage six days of 24-hour walk outs in a series of fresh strikes over the ongoing dispute.
Staff previously called off a number of action days as it seemed the RMT were going to reach an agreement with bosses.
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But now the union have said that after 15 months of talks, the groups failed to reach an agreement.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said on Tuesday: "After 15 months of difficult negotiations with at Acas we have reached a point where our members feel so strongly that the proposed method of dispatch for the new trains is a less safe option that they are prepared to go back to the picket lines and demand an operational role that applies to all stations that the new trains call at.
"Crucially the train drivers take the same view that the guard should be responsible for the safe dispatch of the train as they are now.
"It is these very guards and drivers that operate the trains day in and day out and if they are saying that they can't accept the proposed method of operation then they must be listened to."
Strikes will take place on August 24, September 3, 5 and 30 and October 2 and 4.
On Wednesday, Merseyrail issued a statement responding to the RMT announcement, with its managing director, Andy Heath, accusing the union of moving the goalposts and making new demands.
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Mr Heath said: “I have personally been at every one of the 18 meetings and my whole team has given their full commitment when reaching the March and July 2019 agreements.
"The RMT demanded a second safety critical person on our new fleet of trains and as a result of the ACAS discussions they secured this, subject to funding.
"However, towards the end of the discussions, the RMT was just making increasingly unreasonable and unrealistic demands and going backwards on key elements of the deal that they had previously agreed to. This was always a dispute about the RMT wishing to retain a guaranteed second safety-critical person on all new Merseyrail trains.
"We delivered this and this is still not good enough for the RMT."
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He said he was now "struggling to comprehend" what the dispute was "really" about, adding: "I have never seen the likes of this in over 30 years of working in the rail industry. This announcement will just create more unnecessary and avoidable inconvenience for our passengers, the public and local businesses, especially when, in our final proposal, we provided the RMT with what they were asking for.
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“We will do everything we can to deliver as much of a service as possible for our passengers during the strikes. There is no need for these strikes to be called and the RMT is being completely unreasonable.”
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram reacted to the news on Twitter on Tuesday, saying: "This is a disappointing and in some ways surprising announcement given the many months of positive local negotiations and the memorandum of understanding agreed to by all parties last August.
"Support for a second, safety-critical person on the new Merseyrail trains was agreed in principle last year. I have made it clear that I want to see a full agreement reached which delivers on that commitment, protects jobs and is in the best interests of passengers.
"Since I inherited this dispute, I have been clear that a resolution can only be reached by both sides sitting around the negotiating table. That is why I pushed for Merseyrail and the RMT to enter talks at ACAS and it is this approach, which has been delivering progress to date.
"Meaningful talks produced a negotiated agreement between the RMT and Merseyrail. RMT officials put forward proposals, relating to the role of the second on-board staff member and revisions to the current guards’ terms and conditions, as part of a package to resolve the dispute.
"It is not clear why these proposals are no longer acceptable to the union. I am still hopeful that a solution can be found. The issue was always about the need for a second, safety-critical member of staff to reassure passengers.
"That need has been recognised, so I do not understand why an agreement cannot now be reached, in order that everyone can look forward to the introduction of our brand new trains – owned by us, the public.
"Given that the RMT have twice rejected proposals which they have negotiated with the employer - and which guaranteed a 2nd safety-critical person on every train – it would be helpful for them to set out clearly what their position now is, as it appears the goalposts keep moving."