Gerry Cinnamon fans have been warned to prearrange travel home ahead of the star's Hampden Park gigs this weekend. ScotRail has urged revellers to consider their travel options, as there will be no services from Mount Florida back to Glasgow Central after the concerts finish this Saturday and Sunday, July 16 and 17.
Rail chiefs have also suggested that music fans travel to the gig early, as the operator's temporary timetable remains in place. Extra carriages will be put on where possible to help people get to the gig, but music-lovers are encouraged to get to the stadium as early as possible as trains are expected to be "very busy".
The rail operator was forced to bring in the temporary timetable in May due to strike action among drivers - slashing hundreds of services across the country.
On Monday, July 11, ASLEF union confirmed that its members had voted to accept an improved pay offer made by ScotRail. Rail bosses say they are now working to resume the full timetable as soon as possible.
Phil Campbell, ScotRail Head of Customer Operations, said: “While we’re pleased that ASLEF members have voted to accept our pay deal, unfortunately our temporary timetable will still be in place this weekend. We’re working hard to restore the timetable to normal as soon as possible, but in the meantime, we’re urging customers travelling to Hampden Park to see Gerry Cinnamon perform to plan ahead, to check their entire journey, and to know their travel options.
“There will be a very limited number of trains departing the city centre after the concert on Saturday night, and there will be no trains after the event on Sunday, so please check your entire journey and know what alternative transport is available.”
Will services return to normal?
Yes, ScotRail say they are working to reintroduce the full timetable as soon as possible, but have added on their Twitter: "Changing a timetable is a complex process which will take time." They have said that they will confirm when a full timetable is able to be reinstated for customers as soon as they know.
The national rail operator says that reinstating the timetable is dependent on drivers returning to work on rest days and overtime. This is something that they deem crucial for reliable service amid driver shortages that were caused during Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
Will there be more strike action?
There will likely be future industrial action from the RMT, which is a separate organisation to ASLEF, following their strikes earlier this month. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has said more strikes can be expected if a settlement is not reached with Network Rail and the UK's rail operators.
They have called for a 24 hour strike on Wednesday July 27 following a "paltry" Network Rail offer. This will likely look like the recent RMT strikes, where services were heavily reduced and there were only five lines running across Scotland.
Meanwhile, there will be a limited number of trains out of Glasgow city centre after 11pm on Saturday night. These are:
- 23:17 Glasgow Central to East Kilbride
- 23:21 Glasgow Central to Gourock
- 23:22 Glasgow Queen Street to Stirling
- 23:30 Glasgow Central to Ayr
- 23:45 Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Waverley
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