300 trains cancelled over driver shortage
ScotRail apologises to travellers as ‘significant’ number of pay row staff stop working rest days
HUNDREDS of trains have been cancelled in Scotland amid driver shortages in a pay dispute.
Around 300 services were hit yesterday compared with 110 last weekend.
The problems saw newly nationalised ScotRail apologise to customers on the day its new timetable came into effect.
Train drivers’ union Aslef has balloted its members for strike action after rejecting a 2.2 per cent pay increase. Following the decision, a ‘significant number of drivers’ stopped working on rest days.
Aslef has urged ScotRail and the Scottish Government to come back to the negotiating table.
The Scottish Government said the driver shortage was causing significant disruption across the network.
ScotRail’s service delivery director, David Simpson, yesterday urged passengers to check journeys before they set out on their travels.
He said: ‘We are experiencing a driver shortage, which means some services will be cancelled.
‘We are very sorry for the disruption and inconvenience this will cause and understand customer frustration when this happens.
‘Unfortunately, since the drivers’ union Aslef announced it would ballot for strike action, a significant number of drivers, but not all, have declined to make themselves available for overtime or rest day working.’ He said the offer to drivers could be worth 7 per cent based on the 2.2 per cent rise and a revenue sharing deal.
This is understood to come into effect where revenue targets are exceeded.
Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth has said ScotRail will have more drivers once the delayed driving training programme has been completed. This is expected to finish in a few months and will mean that drivers no longer have to work on rest days.
She added: ‘We want ultimately our rail unions to have a vested interest, a stake, in the vision of the new ScotRail and what that looks like, what that means for them and their members and the staff who work on our trains. I think that is hugely important.
‘At the moment, rest day working continues to be needed.’
Rest day working is optional but sees drivers volunteer on their day off to come in and work to help the network run smoothly. Miss Gilruth also announced the new timetable would see around 150 additional services but said trains are still not running at levels seen before the Covid pandemic.
Confirming the ballot, Aslef Scottish organiser Kevin Lindsay said: ‘We are beyond disappointed by the lack of action and any meaningful pay offer from ScotRail. Just a few weeks ago we were celebrating our trains being taken back into public ownership.
‘We hoped this would herald a new era of positive industrial relations but it appears the same senior managers are determined to resort back to the failed strategies of the past.’