Guards strike
Furious train guards turned out to protest against the proposed cull of their jobs.
Commuters were hit with rail misery last Thursday with Ayr services to Girvan and Kilmarnock cancelled due to strikes.
The walkout was in response to a ScotRail plan for driver- only trains.
Worried guards waved banners outside Ayr station on Thursday.
Further strikes are planned for Sunday July 3 and July 17.
RMT union official Gerry McCann, of Kincaidston, Ayr, said: “We are concerned about the safety of the train and the passengers. Eventually this move will cost jobs but ultimately it is about safety. It is the responsibility of the guard to lead people away from danger if anything happens as the the driver is in the cabin.
“W e en c o u r a g e the company to negotiate with us.”
A message on the ScotRail website said: “We think this strike is totally unnecessary. The RMT say we’re planning on having driver- only trains. We are not.
“We will always schedule a second person on trains to serve our customers. They say it’s about safety. It is not.
“Today, 59 per cent of our customers travel on a train where the doors are safely opened and closed by the driver.
“The body in charge of regulating safety on the UK rail network – the ORR – say this is a safe way of working. And we’ve guaranteed all our conductors will keep their job, pay and conditions.”
Rail union RMT general secretary Mick Cash accused ScotRail of being “holed up in their bunker counting out the cash.”
He said the company was taking a “lethal gamble with basic rail safety.”