Union bosses have accused Tory ministers of "sitting on their hands" and failing to work constructively to bring an end to the latest wave of strikes across the UK's railways.
ScotRail services will be hugely disrupted this week along with cross-border routes as a result of the long-running dispute involving Network Rail and members of the RMT and ASLEF unions.
"We don’t want disruption, we want a settlement. There’s been too much disruption on the railway caused by government policy and if we can get sensible proposals we can work up towards a solution," said RMT general secretary Mick Lynch.
Network Rail staff will strike again on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Services will also be severely affected on Thursday due to the challenges of restarting a timetable with just a few hours between strikes.
A ScotRail spokesperson said there would be only a very limited service across 12 routes in the central belt, Fife and the Borders.
Train drivers in England will also walk out on Thursday, which could affect cross-border services.
Trains that do run will start later and finish much earlier than usual, with services typically running between 7.30am and 6.30pm on the day of the strike.
The train drivers’ strike on January 5 will affect 15 operators and will result in even fewer services running, with some companies operating "very significantly reduced" timetables.
The RMT also has an overtime ban in place at 14 train operating companies until Monday that will continue to affect the level of cancellations and the punctuality of some services.
Lynch said he had received "radio silence" since mid-December as he accused UK Government ministers of "sitting on their hands".
“They keep saying that they’re facilitating a deal. And I think it’s absolutely the opposite to that.”
He said that his union wants a settlement, not disruption.
“The Government simply will not give a mandate to the employers, Network Rail and the train operators that will allow this deal to be resolved. They’re sitting on their hands and are noted by their absence from this scene.
“They’ve put a block on the deal and they’re an obstacle rather than a facilitator.”
Daniel Mann, director of industry operations at the Rail Delivery Group, 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 3-7 January 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.”
ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan said the union was "in it for the long haul", adding: “We don’t want to go on strike but the companies have pushed us into this place.
“They have not offered our members a penny and these are people who have not had an increase since April 2019.
“That means they expect train drivers at these companies to take a real-terms pay cut – to work just as hard for considerably less – when inflation is running at north of 14%.
“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.
“We are always happy to negotiate – we never refuse to sit down at the table and talk – but these companies have offered us nothing, and that is unacceptable.”
The RMT is campaigning against plans to close ticket offices, cut jobs and move the industry to widespread driver-only operation.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
