Strike deal could stop the trains
TRAIN passengers in Scotland are facing threat of more cancellations – ironically as a result of an agreement to stop the recent strikes.
The deal set to be agreed between ScotRail and the RMT union will mean a train will not be allowed to leave a station unless both a driver and a conductor are on board.
That means services will be cancelled if a conductor calls in sick or fails to show up for a shift and cannot be replaced.
Until now, services have been able to go ahead as long as a driver is on board.
ScotRail insiders have revealed that the risk of more cancellations is a consequence of a deal aimed at finally ending industrial action by RMT members.
They have already held 11 days of strike action which has caused misery for commuters and cost the economy £150 million.
One source at Abellio, the Dutch company which operates the ScotRail franchise, said: ‘Part of the agreement to end the dispute will mean that every train must have a driver and a conductor.
‘At the moment, services are only cancelled if there is no driver but, following this agreement, there will be cancellations if there is not a conductor.’
On Wednesday, ScotRail and the RMT announced that the next wave of strikes had been suspended in order to allow further talks to take place.
Four more days of strike action had been scheduled to take place today, tomorrow, on Thursday and on Saturday. An agreement is expected to be finalised in the coming days, with the commitment to have a conductor on every train likely to be a crucial factor in persuading the unions not to continue their protest.
An RMT spokesman said: ‘No train can leave without that second member of staff. The idea of staff sickness being a problem is nonsense. They should be able to recruit enough members of staff to cover for that.
‘If there was to be no second member of staff then there would be nobody to do the safety-critical role that the guard fills, including evacuations.’
If there is a spike in the number of cancelled trains it could lead to penalties being imposed on Abellio – or even for it to lose the contract halfway through the franchise, in 2020.
The franchise agreement between Abellio and Transport Scotland includes a target that no more than 1.6 per cent of trains are cancelled.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: ‘The ScotRail franchise contract contains ambitious targets that have been set to drive up service punctuality and reliability.
‘If these targets are not achieved, the franchisee can be asked to provide improvement plans.’
A ScotRail spokesman said: ‘If a train conductor calls in sick and no replacement member of staff can be put in place for the service, the train would have to be cancelled.’