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27 January 2011
Last updated at 04:46 ET
Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones has called on both sides in the planned Arriva Trains Wales strike to negotiate to try to avert the action.
Mr Jones, said the strike on the day of Wales' Six Nations opening rugby game, would cause "unnecessary inconvenience".
Rail union RMT has said it will strike on 4 February over pay.
Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) said its offer, a 12% pay increase over two years, was "the end of the line".
The strike is due on the opening day of the Six Nations rugby tournament, when Wales host England in an evening match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow has said Arriva's offer was "unacceptable" and would leave his members "with an effective pay cut which was loaded with strings".
The train operating firm's operations and safety director, Peter Leppard, said it was "still talking" to the rail union but a resolution before next Friday "does not look hopeful".
'Astonishingly good' He said the firm would normally carry around 32,000 passengers to an international rugby match and that there was no "Plan B" to provide buses.
He told BBC Radio Wales: "With great sadness, it looks like we just have to say to people I'm sorry we can't help you."
Mr Leppard called the strike was "completely unjustifiable".
He said the pay offer would raise an Arriva driver's basic salary to £39,117, an "astonishingly good" income in Wales and a "mid table" salary among train drivers in the UK.
"Whether it be right or wrong, people generally in Wales are paid a little less than the rest of the UK because that reflects the Wales economy," he said.
"We're paying the market rate for staff in Wales."
Transport Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said: "We can't get involved because no government should actually get involved in industrial relations matters.
"But I have made it clear that if the strike goes ahead, it will cause disruption and unnecessary inconvenience to thousands of passengers.
"So I'm actually calling on both parties to get round the table to see whether we can solve this before Friday."
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Mr Jones, said the strike on the day of Wales' Six Nations opening rugby game, would cause "unnecessary inconvenience".
Rail union RMT has said it will strike on 4 February over pay.
Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) said its offer, a 12% pay increase over two years, was "the end of the line".
The strike is due on the opening day of the Six Nations rugby tournament, when Wales host England in an evening match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow has said Arriva's offer was "unacceptable" and would leave his members "with an effective pay cut which was loaded with strings".
The train operating firm's operations and safety director, Peter Leppard, said it was "still talking" to the rail union but a resolution before next Friday "does not look hopeful".
'Astonishingly good' He said the firm would normally carry around 32,000 passengers to an international rugby match and that there was no "Plan B" to provide buses.
He told BBC Radio Wales: "With great sadness, it looks like we just have to say to people I'm sorry we can't help you."
Mr Leppard called the strike was "completely unjustifiable".
He said the pay offer would raise an Arriva driver's basic salary to £39,117, an "astonishingly good" income in Wales and a "mid table" salary among train drivers in the UK.
"Whether it be right or wrong, people generally in Wales are paid a little less than the rest of the UK because that reflects the Wales economy," he said.
"We're paying the market rate for staff in Wales."
Transport Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said: "We can't get involved because no government should actually get involved in industrial relations matters.
"But I have made it clear that if the strike goes ahead, it will cause disruption and unnecessary inconvenience to thousands of passengers.
"So I'm actually calling on both parties to get round the table to see whether we can solve this before Friday."
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