West Lothian commuters face delays and disruption on train services from today after ScotRail announced it would introduce a temporary timetable due to a shortage of drivers.
The temporary timetable will be enforced due to a “significant” number of drivers not working overtime or on rest days and after rejecting a 2.2 per cent pay offer.
This is a result of the ongoing impact of a significant number of drivers declining to make themselves available for overtime or rest day working, following an announcement by the drivers’ union ASLEF that it will ballot for industrial action over pay.
ScotRail is currently working on temporary timetables for Saturdays, which will be broadly similar to the Monday to Friday timetable, as well as timetables for Sundays, and will update customers in the coming days.
Like many train operators across Britain, ScotRail has relied on drivers working overtime or on their rest days. In 2019, ScotRail committed to employing more drivers to phase out the reliance on this practice, however, the pandemic meant that driver training was significantly delayed.
ScotRail is still awaiting formal notification from ASLEF and the RMT on the details of the ballots of its members for industrial action.
David Simpson, ScotRail Service Delivery Director, said:
“We are very sorry to customers for the disruption of recent days. We know what customers want more than anything is certainty and reliability, which is why we are introducing a temporary timetable.
“We want to resolve this dispute with the trade unions and move forward together to provide the safest, greenest, and most reliable railway we can for Scotland. We remain open to further talks with the trade unions.
“We’re asking customers to check their journey on our website, mobile app, and through our social media channels as train times will have changed.”
You can check the full timetable changes here.
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