Strike disruption to hit Scotrail services week before Christmas
The RMT union announced its members at Network Rail strike on 13th, 14th, 16th and 17th December
Last updated 9th Dec 2022
ScotRail is warning customers to expect significant disruption in the week leading up to Christmas, as the latest round of strike action by RMT members of Network Rail takes place.
The dispute does not involve ScotRail staff, but involves Network Rail staff based in Scotland and services will be disrupted.
Network Rail RMT members are currently voting on a pay offer, which is due to close on Monday, 12 December.
Even if strike action is called off after that vote, bosses say it would take the industry at least 48 hours to restore a normal service.
The RMT union announced its members at Network Rail will take strike action on Tuesday 13th, Wednesday 14th, Friday 16th, Saturday 17th December, across the Great Britain railway network resulting from a pay dispute with the track and infrastructure operator.
For ScotRail customers, this means a limited number of services will operate on a reduced number of routes.
Many of the Network Rail staff that are due to take part in the planned industrial action occupy safety-critical roles and, as such, it will not be possible for ScotRail to run the vast majority of services.
On the days of strike action, ScotRail has confirmed it will operate a similar service level as the previous strike action on previous Network Rail strike dates.
Thursday 15th December will also be impacted by the aftermath of the strike action on previous days.
Which routes will be running?
Scotrail say plan to run services on 12 routes across the central belt, Fife, and the Borders between the hours of 07.30 and 18.30 from:
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 is warning customers that the final services will depart well before 18:30, so customers should plan ahead and ensure they know when their last train will depart.
Due to the greater reliance on manual signalling outside the Central Belt, Network Rail is unable to facilitate passenger services on any other routes on the strike days.