No trains outside Scotland's central belt during three days of strikes

Author: Selena JacksonPublished 15th Jun 2022
Last updated 15th Jun 2022

ScotRail says it will only be able to run trains on five routes across Scotland, during three days of industrial action next week.

No services will operate north of Glasgow or Edinburgh on June 21. 23, or 25.

Lines will only be open between 7.30am and 6.30pm, meaning services will start later and finish earlier than usual.

Passengers "who must travel" are urged to "plan ahead" to ensure they can complete their journeys within this window, Network Rail said.

Only five routes across Scotland

The only routes which will operate across Scotland during strike days are:

  • Edinburgh to Glasgow via Falkirk High
  • Edinburgh to Bathgate
  • Glasgow to Hamilton/Larkhall
  • Glasgow to Lanark
  • Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts

Last services from London to Scotland will leave in the early afternoon.

Steve Montgomery, who chairs industry body the Rail Delivery Group, said: "These strikes will affect the millions of people who use the train each day, including key workers, students with exams, those who cannot work from home, holidaymakers and those attending important business and leisure events.

"Working with Network Rail, our plan is to keep as many services running as possible, but significant disruption will be inevitable and some parts of the network will not have a service, so passengers should plan their journeys carefully and check their train times."

Only around 12,000-14,000 services will be able to run on the days following the strikes.

This is because signallers and control staff will not work overnight shifts that begin on the strike dates.

That means trains will not be able to leave depots for up to four hours later than normal.

Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines said the strikes have been timed to cause "maximum disruption".

Tim Shoveller, the organisation's managing director for the North West and Central region, said: "The service that we can offer to passengers in the mornings is going to be very limited.

"Even on the intermediate days we won't be able to operate anything like a full service with the normal amount of capacity or frequency of trains.

"That's what gives rise to effectively six days of disruption."

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