Train services across Scotland will be severely disrupted on Thursday and Saturday, with only a handful of services running, as rail staff take further strike action.
ScotRail has warned passengers a very limited number of services will run on Thursday as a result of industrial action by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), which has been locked in an ongoing battle over pay, jobs and conditions with Network Rail.
Services will operate between 7.30am and 6.30pm and ScotRail has urged passengers to check services ahead of travel and only travel if it is necessary.
The operator has also warned passengers to expect disruption on 20 and 21 August, following the strikes as services are restarted.
RMT picket lines will be in place at Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley from 7am on Thursday, with a “picket at the fringe” at 10am on Waverley bridge.
ScotRail's service delivery director David Simpson said: “It is very unfortunate to see such widespread disruption across the whole of the Great Britain rail network and we know this will be frustrating for ScotRail customers.
“Regrettably, this strike action by RMT members of Network Rail means that we will not be able to operate the vast majority of our services during the period of strike action.
“Customers should expect significant disruption to services on strike days, as well as the following day.
“We are able to operate on more routes than on the previous day of strike action, however, we are still only able to run a very limited number of services on these routes, so we’re advising customers to seek alternative means of transport and to only travel if they really need to.“
The Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA) union will also take strike action on services that serve Scotland, including Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry and LNER.
Speaking at a public meeting in Glasgow on Tuesday evening, general secretary of the RMT, Mick Lynch, said the dispute would not be over until “members decide it is over”.
He stated: “The dispute that we are in, is a member-led dispute - and it will not be settled until our members decide it’s over.
“It’s not about pay, pay is part of it, but it is about our jobs first and foremost.
“If you haven’t got a job, you’re not going to get a pay rise.
“Do they ever want to talk about that? No, it’s ‘greedy railway workers, train drivers wages’, if you’re working on the gate line down at Glasgow Central, you are not on a train driver’s wage. You’re not any better off than any public sector worker.”
The RMT claim Network Rail is attempting to impose compulsory redundancies and cuts to maintenance work and has accused rail chiefs of putting public safety at risk.
Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines said: “It saddens me that we are again having to ask passengers to stay away from the railway for two days this week due to unnecessary strike action, when we should be helping them enjoy their summers.
“We have made a good and fair offer but, with the exception of our TSSA management grades who accepted the deal, our unions are refusing to let our employees have a say and, sadly, that means more disruption on the rail network.
“We’ll run as many services as we can on Thursday and Saturday, but it will only be around a fifth of the usual timetable, so please only travel if absolutely necessary and, if you must travel, plan ahead and check when your last train will be.”
ScotRail services running today:
- Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High: two trains per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – Helensburgh Central: two trains per hour
- Glasgow Central – Hamilton/Larkhall: two trains per hour
- Glasgow Central – Lanark: two trains per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Central via Shotts: one train per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – Inverkeithing: two trains per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – Tweedbank: two trains per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – North Berwick: one train per hour
- Glasgow Queen Street – Larbert: one train per hour
- Glasgow Queen Street – Falkirk Grahamston: one train per hour
- Milngavie – Springburn: two trains per hour
Separately, cleaning workers at the City of Edinburgh Council will begin 11 days of strike action from today.
Workers at waste and recycling depots across the city have rejected a formal pay offer from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) of 3.5%.
A rally is expected to take place at the City of Edinburgh Council Chambers at 9.30am on Thursday to coincide with the strike beginning.
Members of Unite and GMB unions will walk out over the pay offer, described as “paltry” by Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.
She said: “Unite’s local government representatives have rejected the paltry offer of 3.5% from Cosla.
“The offer is nowhere near good enough, council leaders across Scotland including Edinburgh and Glasgow are publicly on the record acknowledging this reality, so why should our members even consider it?
“We make no apologies for standing up for our members because they deserve better than what they are getting from the politicians.”
Both unions expect the strikes to impact the ongoing Edinburgh International and Fringe festivals.
GMB Scotland organiser Kirsten Muat said: “Waste will pile up for the remainder of the festival and when people ask why we will tell them: GMB members are not prepared to accept working poverty in our local services as an inevitability even if our political leaders are.
“These strikes are a direct response to the failures of COSLA and the Scottish Government over the last six months to recognise the impact of this cost-of-living crisis on our members and to bring forward a pay offer worthy of their consultation.
“The 3.5% tabled last week - a miserly lift on the previously rejected 2% - is a pathetic response, while our members struggle against double-digit inflation and energy bills rising to over £4,000 this winter.”
Council leader Cammy Day said there are discussions about clean-up operations for after the strike gets under way.
He said: “It’s now looking increasingly likely that industrial action will go ahead here in Edinburgh and in other cities across the country.
“Together with my fellow council leaders, I’ll continue to press the Scottish Government to resolve this as quickly as possible.
“I firmly believe that all council colleagues deserve to be paid fairly for the work they do and have every right to take this action and have their voices heard.
“As the lowest funded council in Scotland, it’s time for the Scottish Government to properly fund our capital city and its services.”
Strikes across 14 other local authorities in Scotland will follow from 24 until 31 August.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “As the employers, these pay negotiations are a matter for local authorities and unions – the Scottish Government has no formal role.
“We urge COSLA to urgently reconsider its position and match the Scottish Government’s additional £140m that would be required to increase the pay offer to 5%.
“The Scottish Government must balance a fixed budget with very significant competing demands as a consequence of the cost-of-living crisis and the inaction of the UK Government.
“The main tax levers are set for the whole year and cannot be changed, with no power to borrow for this spend, the extra £140m has got to come from somewhere else within the budget and no more funding can be offered.”
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