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Friday 30 Dec 2022

Scotland’s Railway facing significant strike disruption next week

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Scotland’s Railway will be working hard to run as many trains as possible for customers during two 48-hour RMT strikes on January 3/4 and January 6/7.

Strike action will also cause significant disruption to routes across the country on January 5.

On strike days (January 3/4 and 6/7), 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.

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: two trains per hour   
• Edinburgh Waverley – Helensburgh Central: two trains per hour  
• Glasgow Central – Hamilton/Larkhall: two trains per hour   
• Glasgow Central – Lanark: two trains per hour   
• Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Central via Shotts: one train per hour 
• Edinburgh Waverley – Cowdenbeath: two trains per hour 
• Edinburgh Waverley – Tweedbank: two trains per hour 
• Edinburgh Waverley – North Berwick: one train per hour 
• Edinburgh Waverley – Larbert: one train per hour
• Glasgow Queen Street – Larbert: one train per hour 
• Glasgow Queen Street – Falkirk Grahamston: one train per hour 
• Milngavie – Springburn: two trains per hour 

On January 5, the same limited service will remain in place due to the complexity of restarting a full service with just a few hours between strikes. It is hoped that some additional routes can be added, but customers should check their journey before they travel.

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

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.

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

“We remain committed to working with the RMT to find a solution to this dispute, but we also need to agree a deal that is fair on the taxpayers who fund our railway.”