700 trains a day to return but yet more misery ahead

SCOTRAIL yesterday announced the return of almost 700 daily trains from Wednesday, after resolving a pay dispute with drivers.

But passengers face fresh misery due to industrial action on the cross-border East Coast Main Line – possibly disrupting the Edinburgh Festival and potentially derailing retail’s recovery hopes.

Nine days after train drivers’ union Aslef revealed members had accepted a 5 per cent pay rise, ScotRail has confirmed the timetable will be restored from July 20 – but it will still run 250 fewer trains than before the pandemic.

ScotRail slashed the number of services by around a third in May after drivers refused to work overtime until a new pay deal was agreed.

The UK rail network now faces strikes from RMT members in dispute with Network Rail and 14 train operators on July 27 and August 18 and 20.

Chief executive of UK Hospitality Kate Nicholls said Edinburgh businesses had been ‘on their knees’ as a result of Covid and were about to ‘begin the process of recovery’ this summer, so the news was ‘absolutely devastating’.

Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: ‘The chaos on our railways looks far from over.’

Meanwhile, it has emerged that barely one in ten people thinks rail workers deserve pay rises larger than other frontline public sector staff.

A poll of 2,000 by consultancy Yonder found only 12 per cent believe they should get a bigger pay increase than NHS workers or teachers – demolishing union claims that the public backs strikes.

RMT boss Mick Lynch was accused by a government source of ‘breathtaking cynicism’ over his claim yesterday that the public are ‘right behind us’, despite the findings.

Figures show a fifth of train and tram drivers earn at least £70,000. Their average is £59,189, compared with the UK median of £26,000.