A West Lothian man is set to miss his late aunt's funeral due to a fresh wave of strikes by railway staff.
Industrial action on both Wednesday and Saturday mean services around the country will be extremely limited, with ScotRail only operating five routes. Network Rail staff are set to walk out over a pay dispute, with signallers and maintenance staff have impacted over rail providers, such as ScotRail, whose staff are not directly involved in the strike action.
Kristian Melson, an operations manager, had hoped to travel to his aunt's funeral on Thursday following her passing on July 13, aged 76. However, the 30-year-old will miss the service in Cambridge as Wednesday's strikes disrupt later trains, reports the Daily Record.
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He said: "I am really frustrated that there are more strikes after the recent disruption. I cannot see my family at such a tragic time."
"Most people understand the reasons why (staff) want to strike, we have all felt the squeeze in our finances because of inflation. The strikes are highlighting the issues the rail workers are facing but the disruption is angering travellers.
"The strikes are stopping people going about their daily lives which isn't helping me agree with their cause."
Kristian said he's trying to reduce air travel to improve his carbon footprint, but said flights are too expensive anyway.
He added: "I moved to Scotland knowing that I was only ever four hours away by train. My family are all based in the South East so they can go together by car between them.
"They are sad I cannot attend and pay my respects."
Only a fifth of services will run on Wednesday on around half of the network, so passengers are being urged to only travel by train if they must, and if it is necessary, allow extra time and check when their last train will depart.
Members of the drivers' union Aslef will strike on Saturday from a number of companies.
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