The pay dispute between the rail operator and Scottish train drivers has led to a revised timetable being issued by ScotRail - just days after it was due to begin a new hourly train schedule between Perth and Invergowrie station.
From Monday, May 23, ScotRail will introduce a temporary timetable “to provide greater certainty and reliability for customers”.
The change brought in by the operator is in the face of embarrassing cancellations for services across the country triggered by a dispute with ASLEF union drivers.
David Simpson, ScotRail 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.”
But the changes have frustrated customers who were just getting used to the new timetable when it was superseded by a skeleton schedule designed to get around the shortage of train drivers.
Actor Colin McCredie tweeted that he would be put out, claiming the last train from Perth to Glasgow at night left at 8.14pm.
He is appearing in a run of shows at Perth Theatre from June 2 to 19 where he plays the lead character in ‘Oh When the Saints’, a show about the Perth football team St Johnstone. The train timetable will mess with his plans to get home after the curtain comes down each night.
“From next Monday last train from Perth to Glasgow is 20.14. This is an absolute disgrace,” he fumed.
Councillor Alasdair Bailey, who had welcomed an hourly connection for Invergowrie coming in after a near-40 year gap, was displeased to see the just-out ScotRail schedule altered.
“It’s bitterly disappointing that after a near-40 year wait, Invergowrie’s new hourly train service was launched and then partly cancelled through its first week of operation.
“At least the temporary timetable gives folk clarity over which trains will and won’t run and I’m happy to see that Invergowrie at least retains morning and evening peak time stops.
“Hopefully ScotRail and the Scottish Government are able to agree terms that the train drivers are happy with and things will get back on track.
“For too long now, the rail industry has relied on driver overtime to cover the standard timetable, it’s maybe time for them to train more drivers.”
A spokesperson for ScotRail said: “ScotRail is currently working on temporary timetables for Saturdays, which will be broadly similar to the Monday to Friday timetable, as well as timetables for Sundays, and will update customers in the coming days.
“It’s right to make these changes to provide greater certainty for customers as the current level of cancellations is not sustainable for customers and colleagues.
“ScotRail is still awaiting formal notification from ASLEF and the RMT on the details of the ballots of its members for industrial action.
“ScotRail is disappointed to find itself at this stage with both trade unions, despite a very good offer being made. ScotRail 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 temporary timetable for Monday – Friday can be viewed online at scotrail.co.uk/timetable-update
