Cross-border rail services between Scotland and England are severely disrupted due to strike action by members of the Aslef union.
Train drivers from 15 train companies who are members of the union have walked out on Thursday in an ongoing dispute over pay.
No services between Scotland and England are running from operators Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express and CrossCountry.
LNER said it is running an “extremely limited” service between London and Edinburgh.
Picket lines were being manned at Glasgow Central, Edinburgh Waverley and the Polmadie Rail Depot in Glasgow this morning
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan told the PA news agency it is “inevitable” that further strikes will be held unless there is a breakthrough to the long-running row.
“The situation is getting worse and my members now want to go harder and faster because of the lack of progress - we are in a weird world where the government will do anything to keep private companies in the industry.
“It is inevitable that more strikes will be held and probably escalate.
“The train companies say their hands have been tied by the government, while the government - which does not employ us - says it’s up to the companies to negotiate with us.”
Barry Milsom, executive director of operations and safety at Avanti West Coast, said: “On January 5 we will have no services due to Aslef’s strike, and we’re telling customers not to travel.
“We all need to be working together for the long-term benefit of our people and customers, so we will continue our industry reform talks with the RMT and Aslef so we can develop a railway fit for the 21st century.”
Tom Joyner, managing director at CrossCountry, said: “We are extremely disappointed and sorry that the latest round of industrial action is going to impact our customers returning to work in the new year.
“We are still committed to finding a solution that will allow us to deliver a sustainable and improved railway and hope to be able to reach an agreement soon.”
Meanwhile, ScotRail has added additional services to its timetable following two days of new year strike action.
The operator confirmed 23 services across the network are operating on Thursday after initially advising the same limited service as strike days would run.
Network Rail workers who are members of the RMT union took two days of strike action on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a further two-day walkout planned on Friday and Saturday.
Gordon Martin, the RMT’s regional organiser in Scotland, claimed ministers are seeking to impose conditions the RMT “cannot and will not accept”, including driver-only operation on trains, the closure of booking offices and cuts to maintenance schedules.
He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Wednesday: “The men and women we represent are very keen to be back at work serving the public, rather than standing on picket lines fighting for a fair offer.
“But the members know what is at stake – their jobs, their terms and conditions and the safety of the travelling public.
“We have had some warm words from the latest Transport Secretary, but we need those warm words to go into action, and we need action on the real concerns.
“We need ministerial involvement, we need decision makers to be in the room, because we’ve had offers on the table that have then been taken off the table through UK Government intervention.”
Liam Sumpter, route director for Network Rail Scotland, said previously: “We understand the impact this strike will have and we are working hard to keep as many passengers as possible moving during the next phase of RMT industrial action.
“We remain committed to working with the RMT to find a solution to this dispute, but we also need to agree a deal that is fair on the taxpayers who fund our railway.”
ScotRail has added the following services on Thursday, in addition to the 12 already running:
- Inverness – Perth.
- Inverness – Aberdeen.
- Inverness – Wick and Kyle.
- Aberdeen – Edinburgh.
- Perth – Edinburgh.
- Glasgow Queen Street – Fort William/Mallaig/Oban.
- Ayr – Stranraer.
- Carlisle – Dumfries.
- Ayr – Glasgow Central.
- Gourock – Glasgow Central.
- Neilston – Glasgow Central.
During the walkouts on Friday and Saturday, the operator will return to the strike timetable, with 12 routes across the central belt, Fife and the Borders running between 7.30am and 6.30am.
These routes will be:
- 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 – Cowdenbeath: two trains per hour.
- Edinburgh Waverley – Tweedbank: two trains per hour.
- Edinburgh Waverley – North Berwick: one train per hour.
- Edinburgh Waverley – Larbert: 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.
ScotRail service delivery director David Simpson said: “We have worked really hard to add more services to the timetable for Thursday.
“However, we are still advising customers to check their journeys before they travel and we’re reminding them that we will have to revert to our strike timetable on Friday and Saturday, which we know will be really frustrating for them.
“The widespread disruption across the whole Great Britain rail network as a result of the dispute between Network Rail and the RMT is really disappointing coming at a time when we need to be encouraging more people back to the railway.”
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