Firms counting cost of third day of action

BARS, restaurants and shops in Scotland were yesterday counting the cost of a third day of train strikes.

Only five routes were operating north of the Border due to the RMT industrial action.

Hospitality and retail industries were hit hard with cancellations, no-shows and reduced footfall.

Yesterday’s strike coincided with Pride marches in Glasgow and Edinburgh, which usually attract streams of visitors.

William Hume, manager of the Speakeasy bar in Glasgow, said: ‘It’s the biggest day of the year for us. We were looking forward to celebrating after Covid and trying to drive the business forward. People travel from all over to come here. We had emails from customers from as far as Manchester and the Highlands who weren’t able to get here. It’s heartbreaking.’ Some determined to see through their plans relied on other forms of transport yesterday.

Peter Watkins, 60 and daughter Lilian, 15, drove to Braehead shopping centre from Ayrshire and took a bus from there to Glasgow to take part in the Pride march. Mr Watkins said: ‘Normally it’s 40 minutes on a train. With the cost of fuel going up, it’s not great.’

A spokesman for the Night Time Industries Association said: ‘Members are reporting an estimated loss of up to 40 per cent in trade from the national rail strike.

‘Long-term strike action will lead to an irreparable loss of business across Scottish hospitality, after so much hard work being put into recovery in the past 12 months.’

Disruption is expected to last into today, with fans heading to the Liam Gallagher gig at Glasgow’s Hampden Park this evening being warned the last train back into the city centre is set to leave before the end of the event.