All you need to know about the nationwide rail strike today
Scotrail is running 5 routes in the central belt
Severe disruption is expected on Scotland's railways today (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday) as members of the RMT stage fresh strikes in the bitter row over jobs, pay and conditions.
Picket lines will be mounted outside railway stations across Scotland including Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley and depots by members of the RMT at Network Rail.
ScotRail has urged passengers to check their journeys before travelling and only do so if necessary.
What services are running?
ScotRail
No trains will run north of Glasgow or Edinburgh on strike days.
Just two trains per hour will run between the cities via Falkirk High and one per hour via Shotts, in each direction.
There will also be two trains per hour on each of these routes: Edinburgh to Bathgate; Glasgow to Hamilton/Larkhall; and Glasgow to Lanark.
Avanti West Coast
A limited service of around a quarter of the normal timetable will operate with a reduced service between Glasgow and London Euston.
Caledonian Sleeper
All departures are cancelled for Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
CrossCountry
A very limited service between Edinburgh and Birmingham via Newcastle, York and Leeds.
Lumo
Just three trains will run in each direction between London King's Cross and Edinburgh, with two others doing part of the route.
TransPennine Express
There will only be a very limited service between Edinburgh and Newcastle
Who is going on strike?
More than 40,000 workers at Network Rail and 14 train operating companies are set to strike in England in a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will walk out on Wednesday, potentially crippling rail services across the country.
The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) has also announced a strike by its members at Avanti West Coast on the same day.
Network Rail pointed out that all train operators may be affected by the strike, whether they have an individual dispute with the RMT or not, as signallers control train movements across the entire country.
Customers are being urged to check before they travel.
Passengers should also expect some disruption on Thursday morning, with a later start to services as signalling staff return to work.
READ MORE: Council workers set to strike
What are the strikes about?
Network Rail is introducing reforms. It comes as fewer passengers are travelling by train because of the pandemic, which has led to more people working from home.
They say a two-year, 8% deal with a no-compulsory-redundancy guarantee and other benefits and extras was on the table but the RMT left the talks.
Why is the union striking?
The RMT said there has been no change or improvement in the pay offers it has received and said the threat of compulsory redundancies and unsafe 50% cuts to maintenance work had been raised.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said driver-only operations and the "ransacking" of members' terms and conditions had also been put on the table by the train operating companies.
Are any breakthroughs likely in this dispute?
There is plenty of bad blood around as Network Rail has accused the RMT of "obstinacy" and branded its action as a "political campaign" while the Department for Transport said the union is "hell-bent on creating further misery for passengers across the UK".
It added that the rail industry has to modernise and be brought into the 21st century for the benefit of passengers and staff.
In turn, Mr Lynch has said the RMT's members are "more determined than ever" to secure a decent pay rise, job security and good working conditions and they will not be bullied or cajoled.
He added that the Government needs to stop its interference in the dispute so the rail employers can come to a negotiated settlement.
Will there be more strikes after this week?
Members of the drivers' union Aslef at eight train operators across the country will go on strike on Saturday.
Two further RMT strikes are set to take place on August 18 and 20 over job security, pay and working conditions.