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Friday 9 Dec 2022

Scotland’s Railway facing significant strike disruption next week

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

• Industry working hard to run as many trains as possible for customers during two 48-hour RMT strikes on December 13/14 and 16/17.
• Strike action will also cause significant disruption to routes across the country on December 15.
• Scotland’s Railway will remain open when RMT members at train companies in England and Wales begin action short of a strike from December 18.

Scotland’s Railway is putting plans in place to keep customers moving when the RMT begins its next round of industrial action with two 48-hour strikes next week.

On strike days (December 13/14 and 16/17), Scotland’s Railway will deliver a similar level of service to previous strikes with ScotRail operating across 12 routes in the central belt, Fife and the Borders.

On December 15, the same limited service will remain in place due to the complexity of restarting a full service with just a few hours between strikes.

Only a very limited train service can run during strike action as a reduction in available staff, including signallers, means many rail lines cannot operate.

The routes – which will be in operation from around 0730 until 1830 on the affected dates – are: 

• Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High
• Edinburgh Waverley – Helensburgh Central
• Glasgow Central – Hamilton/Larkhall
• Glasgow Central – Lanark
• Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Central via Shotts
• Edinburgh Waverley – Cowdenbeath
• Edinburgh Waverley – Tweedbank
• Edinburgh Waverley – North Berwick
• Edinburgh Waverley - Larbert
• Glasgow Queen Street – Larbert
• Glasgow Queen Street – Falkirk Grahamston
• Milngavie – Springburn.

Passengers planning to use cross-border services during the period of industrial action are being advised to check before travelling.

In addition to disruption on strike days, train operators in England and Wales will also see disruption to services between December 18 and January 7 as union members will be taking part in industrial action short of a strike.

In Scotland, ScotRail is not involved in the RMT dispute and services will not be affected outside of the Network Rail strike dates.

Liam Sumpter, route director for Network Rail Scotland, said: “We understand the impact this strike action will have and we are working hard to keep as many passengers as possible moving during the next phase of RMT industrial action.

“We remain committed to working with the RMT to find a solution to this dispute and avert disruption at this important time of the year, but we also need to find a pay deal that is fair on the taxpayers who fund our railway.

“Please check your journey in advance next week as those services that are operating will finish much earlier in the evening.”