ScotRail have confirmed that there will be significant disruption to Scotland's railways due to strike action.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are striking on August 18 and 20, with disruption and cancellations also expected on the days surrounding. While ScotRail staff are not associated with these strikes, Network Rail staff in Scotland will be taking part.
Network Rail staff included signallers who play a crucial role in safety and without them, trains simply can't run - around 40,000 people are expected to take part in the strike action this week.
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ScotRail announced the revised timetable on Monday, confirming only a limited amount of routes will be running from Edinburgh. 378 services will operate on August 18 and 20 compared to 189 on 27 July. Last time RMT members took strike action, only five routes ran across the the Central Belt.
Services on the following routes will run to/from Edinburgh on these days:
- Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High: two trains per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – Helensburgh Central: two trains per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Central via Shotts: one train per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – Inverkeithing: two trains per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – Tweedbank: two trains per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – North Berwick: one train per hour
Final services will depart well before 6.30pm, so customers should plan ahead to ensure they know when their last train will run.
ScotRail have said services on the days surrounding the strike days will be disrupted. Here's a list of cancelled/amended services for:
The strike action is taking place following a dispute over pay, working conditions and job security with 40,000 members of staff from Network Rail and 14 train operators.
David Simpson, ScotRail Service Delivery Director, said: “It is very unfortunate to see such widespread disruption across the whole of the Great Britain rail network and we know this will be frustrating for ScotRail customers.
“Regrettably, this strike action by RMT members of Network Rail means that we will not be able to operate the vast majority of our services during the period of strike action. Customers should expect significant disruption to services on strike days, as well as the following day.
“We are able to operate on more routes than on the previous day of strike action, however, we are still only able to run a very limited number of services on these routes, so we’re advising customers to seek alternative means of transport and to only travel if they really need to.”
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "The rail industry and the government need to understand that this dispute will not simply vanish.
"They need to get serious about providing an offer on pay which helps deal with the cost-of-living crisis, job security for our members and provides good conditions at work.
"Recent proposals from Network Rail fell well short on pay and on safety around maintenance work.
“And the train operating companies have not even made us a pay offer in recent negotiations.
"Now Grant Shapps has abandoned his forlorn hopes for the job of Prime Minister, he can now get back to his day job and help sort this mess out.
"We remain open for talks, but we will continue our campaign until we reach a negotiated settlement."
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