ScotRail is to suspend about 600 services a day from Wednesday “to provide greater certainty and reliability” following mounting short-notice cancellations in a pay dispute with its unions. In a repeat of a similar dispute in 2022, Scotland’s main train operator will reduce the number of trains it runs after increasing gaps in the timetable were caused by staff apparently taking unofficial but lawful action by no longer volunteering for overtime. Advertisement Advertisement Sign up for the latest news and analysis about Scottish transport Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.
The temporary timetable will see around 1,660 trains a day operating from Mondays to Saturdays compared to some 2,260 normally. In the 2022 dispute, 700 daily services were withdrawn for several months. This will cut the number of services operating during the morning and afternoon peaks, in some cases halving the normal frequency, such as trains every 15 minutes being reduced to every half an hour.
This includes on the main Edinburgh-Glasgow line. The move follows a 5 per cent pay increase being rejected last Friday by ScotRail’s four unions and officials of drivers’ union recommending to its leadership that a ballot for industrial action be held. The latest developments in the dispute come two weeks after .
