People in West Lothian travelling by train have been told to continue to expect serious disruption this week after rail strikes kicked-off today.
Only two trains per hour will run per day on strike days on all routes running through West Lothian.
These include between Edinburgh and Bathgate through Linlithgow on the Glasgow via Falkirk High route and through Fauldhouse, Breich, Addiewell, West Calder, Livingston South and Kirknewton on the Edinburgh to Glasgow Central via Shotts line. No trains will run through Armadale and Blackridge.
Drivers have been told to expect to face long queues as the M8 and M9 could see severe traffic, according to the AA.
Many people are believed to be working from home rather than travelling to offices.
Thousands of passengers will be impacted today as one of the biggest rail strikes in decades begins.
The train network is expected to grind to a halt on three days this week as workers take part of the biggest rail strike in 30 years.
Staff at Network Rail and 12 train operators will walk out over today, Thursday and Saturday amid a dispute over job losses, working conditions and pay.
Network rail has said there will be disruption across the whole six days because of the knock-on effect of the strikes.
Up to 90 per cent of train services in Scotland will be cancelled during the three days of strike action, according to ScotRail.
An estimated 50,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 13 train operators will walk out on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Operators not involved in the industrial action - including ScotRail - will still suffer from disruption due to Network Rail signallers and maintenance staff going on strike.
Nick King, a spokesman for Network Rail in Scotland, said the strike could be resolved if the union moved its position on working practices and any reduction in staff would take place on a voluntary basis.
He said: “The dispute is not going to be solved through strike action. It’s not going to be solved on a picket line. It’s going to be solved by negotiations in a room, and negotiations have been taking place for 18 months now on this issue.
“We feel that there are clear ways in which we could modernise and change the way we currently operate and that would then enable us to free up savings that we could then use to fund a pay rise.”
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said Network Rail had offered a 2 per cent pay rise with the possibility of a further 1 per cent later dependent on efficiency savings.
He told BBC’s Newsnight that Network Rail had “escalated” the dispute during Monday’s talks, saying: “They have issued me a letter saying that there are going to be redundancies starting from July 1.
“So rather than trying to come to an agreement in this dispute, they’ve escalated it by giving us formal notice of redundancy amongst our Network Rail members.”
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