From Monday, passengers who miss the 6.03am departure from Mallaig on the west coast of Scotland to Glasgow must wait 24 hours for the next direct service, The Independent has found.
Normally they would be able to take a train four or eight hours later direct to Scotland’s biggest city.
But when an emergency timetable takes effect on ScotRail services on Monday, the current three trains per day from Mallaig via Fort William to Glasgow Queen Street reduces to just one, at 6.03.
The dawn departure, which arrives in Glasgow five-and-a-half hours later is believed to be the earliest “last train” in British railway history.
Alternatively passengers from the Scottish port, which has a ferry link with Skye, can travel on an evening train to Fort William and change to the Caledonian Sleeper, arriving at Glasgow Queen Street station at 12.15am.
The West Highland Line service is the most extreme consequence of a one-third cut in ScotRail trains, precipitated by a nationwide shortage of drivers.
From Monday 23 May, the normal 2,150 weekday services on the newly nationalised train operator will be cut by one-third to 1,456.
Many of the almost-700 axed trains are on evening services. The last trains from Glasgow to Dundee and Stirling will depart four hours earlier than normal, at 7.10pm and 7.49pm respectively.
From Inverness to Aberdeen, the last train runs at 6.50pm, rather than 9.33pm.
ScotRail blames a shortage of drivers due to the impact of Covid-19 on training and an unwillingness by members of the Aslef union to work overtime.
The organisation is telling passengers: “From Monday, 23 May, we’re introducing a temporary timetable.
“We’re aware how much recent disruption has been affecting our customers and believe introducing a temporary timetable will provide greater certainty and reliability for those travelling.
“We’ve been relying on drivers working overtime or on their rest days to run a normal timetable, as the pandemic meant that training new drivers was significantly delayed. Without Covid and that impact on training, we would have trained around an extra 130 drivers today.
“Following an announcement by the drivers’ union Aslef that it will ballot for industrial action over pay, a significant number of drivers have been declining to make themselves available for overtime or rest day working. This has resulted in the recent disruption and our need to introduce a temporary timetable going forward.
“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.”
Members of the RMT union are also being balloted on industrial action.
David Simpson, ScotRail’s 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.”
ScotRail says it has made “a good pay offer that recognises the hard work of our colleagues and the cost-of-living challenges faced by families across the country, while delivering value for the taxpayer”.
The 2022-23 offer comprises a 2.2 per cent increase in pay and a “top-up revenue-sharing arrangement” if financial targets are met.
The consumer price index is currently 9 per cent. A third rail union, TSSA, has demanded pay rises for white-collar staff that keep pace with inflation.
