Rail travel is set to be disrupted by more strike action as the festive holidays come to an end.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail are set to begin four days of industrial action on Tuesday.
It comes after staff also downed tools on Christmas Eve, only returning to work on the morning of December 27.
It’s the latest round of industrial action between the union, Network Rail and a number of train operators in a dispute over pay and conditions.
RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, said: “The union remains available for talks to resolve this dispute.
“But until the government gives the rail industry a mandate to come to a negotiated settlement on job security, pay and condition of work, our industrial campaign will continue into the new year, if necessary.”
The latest round of RMT strikes will cover January 3, 4, 6 and 7, with January 5 also set to be disrupted by members of the Aslef train drivers union taking action at 15 companies.
Those include TransPennine Express and Avanti West Coast, both of which run services out of Lockerbie, that will also be hit by the RMT action.
ScotRail is not involved in either dispute but will be impacted as Network Rail is responsible for infrastructure, meaning there will be no services in Dumfries and Galloway on the RMT strike days.
And services on January 5 and 8 will also be affected while services get back up and running.
Service delivery director, David Simpson, said: “It’s really disappointing to see more widespread disruption across the whole Great Britain rail network as a result of the dispute between Network Rail and the RMT at a time when we need to be encouraging more people back to the railway.
“For ScotRail, it’s going to mean that we won’t be able to operate the vast majority of our services between January 3 and 7, which we know will be really frustrating for our customers.
“We’re advising customers to seek alternative means of transport and to only travel if they really need to on the days of strike action.
“Customers should check their journey in advance to make sure their train is running.”
The Rail Delivery Group’s director of industry operations, Daniel Mann, said: “No one wants to see these strikes go ahead, and we can only apologise to passengers and to the many businesses who will be hit by this unnecessary and damaging disruption.
“We would advise passengers to only travel if it is absolutely necessary during this period, allow extra time and check when their first and last train will depart.
“Passengers with tickets for between January 3 and 7 can use their ticket the day before the ticket date, or up to and including Tuesday, January 10.
“This dispute will only be resolved by agreeing the long overdue reforms to working arrangements needed to put the industry on a sustainable footing, rather than unions condemning their members to losing more pay in the new year.”
Avanti and TransPennine will also be hit by strike action involving cleaners tomorrow.
RMT members employed by private contractors at several rail operators are taking part in the action as they push for a wage of £15 hours and improved benefits.
