Services from the capital are set to be severely disrupted on Monday October 10 after ScotRail workers, represented by the RMT union, rejected a new pay offer.
It is understood that the action will mean that there will be no services connecting Scotland’s two largest cities - Edinburgh and Glasgow. Only a handful of trains will run on three central belt routes.
The RMT union said earlier on Thursday 6 that they would be recommending that their members reject the latest offer. It has been rumoured that an improved pay offer was made on Tuesday 4 but it is not yet known what the exact figure or details are.
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ScotRail have informed their customers that there will only be three services running next Monday between the hours of 07:30am and 6:30pm. This includes Milngavie to Edinburgh which will operate two trains per hour.
Glasgow to Lanark and Glasgow to Lanarkhall will also be running a reduced service. ScotRail say that a large proportion of their employees are members of the RMT, including in roles such as conductors, ticket examiners, hospitality, station staff (including train dispatch), engineering depot staff, train presentation, supervisors, resource coordinators, and CCTV operators – though not all employees in these roles are trade union members.
The recent announcement of additional strike action will follow Network Rail strikes that are taking place on Saturday October 8. Signal caller and rail maintenance staff are walking out on the 8 as they lack confidence in the future of their careers as well as issues with pay and conditions.
This industrial action will impact services across the UK. ScotRail will be impacted by the walk out of workers that maintain tracks on behalf of Network Rail this weekend.
They have said that they will be operating a reduced daytime service that will see trains run every half hour between Edinburgh and Glasgow on Saturday.
Those planning on travelling on the strike impacted days are advised to visit the ScotRail website for updates on how services will be impacted and how they can claim compensation.
You can visit the ScotRail website here.
Phil Campbell, ScotRail Head of Customer Operations, said: “We’re really disappointed that the dispute with the RMT has reached this outcome, given the strength of the improved pay offer ScotRail made. This strike action does nothing for the railway’s recovery at this fragile time. It will severely impact our customers and it will also cost our staff through lost wages.
“Due to the large number of ScotRail staff who are members of the RMT, ScotRail customers should expect significant disruption to services on Monday, 10 October, as we won’t be able to operate the vast majority of our services. We’re advising customers to seek alternative means of transport and to only travel if they really need to on Monday, 10 October.
"We remain open to resolving this dispute.”
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