The majority of Edinburgh trains have been cancelled on Thursday August 18 due to strike action.
40,000 workers from Network Rail and 14 train companies are walking out following a dispute over pay, working conditions and job security.
ScotRail have warned Edinburgh passengers to expect significant disruption as only a limited of services will be running the station.
LNER have also warned of a reduced service to Edinburgh with the last train leaving Waverley at 12.30pm to London King's Cross, 3.30pm to York and 5.00pm to Newcastle. They add that catering services will be reduced and those requiring passenger assist to check ahead of travelling.
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If you have a ticket booked when strike action is taking place, you can still use the ticket for travel the day before, or up to and including Tuesday August 23. Meanwhile, ScotRail is urging people who have an Advance ticket, to travel as close as possible to the original day and time of travel as possible.
You can request a fee-free change of journey for all tickets types if the train is cancelled or delayed, or rescheduled from that in the published timetable of the day after you have purchased a ticket.
You also can claim a full refund on unused tickets with no administration fee.
What routes are running today?
There are only 11 routes running across the whole of Scotland with six from Edinburgh.
- Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High: two trains per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – Helensburgh Central: two trains per hour
- Glasgow Central – Hamilton/Larkhall: two trains per hour
- Glasgow Central – Lanark: 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
- Glasgow Queen Street – Larbert: one train per hour
- Glasgow Queen Street – Falkirk Grahamston: one train per hour
- Milngavie – Springburn: two trains per hour
View a list of cancelled/amended services for:
Dates the next strikes are and companies involved
The next strike day is Saturday August 20 and disruption is expected to continue through to Sunday.
The following train companies involved are;
- Chiltern Railways
- CrossCountry
- Greater Anglia
- LNER
- East Midlands Railway
- c2c
- Great Western Railway
- Northern Trains
- South Eastern
- South Western Railway
- TransPennine Express
- Avanti West Coast
- West Midlands Trains
- GTR (including Gatwick Express)
- London Overground
- Hull Trains
- London Northwestern Railway
Why are they striking?
Network Rail offered a four per cent pay deal during discussions to which was rejected by the union members. RMT argued that the pay rise should be in line with inflation that hit 10.1 per cent in July.
Mr Lynch said that across the transport network members were now more determined than ever to protect their pensions, secure a decent pay rise, job security and good working conditions.
He said: “Network Rail have not made any improvement on their previous pay offer and the train operating companies have not offered us anything new.
“Tube bosses are having secret negotiations with the government about cutting costs by slashing jobs and undermining working conditions and pensions.
“Network Rail is also threatening to impose compulsory redundancies and unsafe 50 per cent cuts to maintenance work if we did not withdraw strike action.
“The train operating companies have put driver only operations on the table along with ransacking our members terms and conditions.
“RMT will continue to negotiate in good faith but we cannot tolerate being bullied or hoodwinked into accepting a raw deal for our members.
“The government need to stop their interference in these disputes so the employers can come to a negotiated settlement with us.”
Are there any more strikes planned?
While there are no strike days confirmed, the RMT union leader has warned the rail dispute could be prolonged “indefinitely”, suggesting more strikes could be announced.
As PA reports, Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), has called upon the Government to end its stance of refusing to get involved in talks over pay, jobs and conditions.
Mr Lynch wrote to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, saying: “Your government has made the decision to use taxpayers’ money to bail out private train companies from being liable for revenue lost because of industrial action on the condition the same companies comply with government instructions to hold down pay, cut thousands of safety critical rail jobs, introduce driver only trains and close ticket offices across the network.”
According to Mr Lynch, more than £120 million of taxpayers' money has been used to 'bail out' private train companies.
He told the PA news agency: “Using taxpayers’ money to satisfy the anti-union agenda of the Tory party and seek to break the trade unions is shameful and means the dispute will be prolonged indefinitely as the train companies don’t lose a penny as a result of the industrial action and therefore have no incentive to settle the disputes.
“Instead of waging an ideological war against rail workers, millions of voters would rather that the Government allow for a fair negotiated settlement.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Yet again, for the sixth time since June, union leaders are opting to inflict misery and disrupt the day-to-day lives of millions instead of working with industry to agree a deal that will bring our railways into the 21st century.
“Today, thousands of A-level students across the country, many of whom have spent the majority of their college years studying at home due to the pandemic, are now being denied the chance to celebrate their hard work and dedication face to face with peers and teachers.
“It’s clear strikes are not the powerful tool they once were and union chiefs are no longer able to bring the country to a standstill as, unlike them, the world has changed and people simply work from home.
“All these strikes are doing is hurting those people the unions claim to represent, many of whom will again be out of pocket and forced to miss a day’s work.
“We urge union bosses to do the right thing by their members and let them have their say on Network Rail’s very fair deal, which will deliver the reforms our rail system urgently needs.
“It’s time to get off the picket lines and back around the negotiating table – the future of our railway depends on it.”
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