ScotRail cancellations continue amid staff dispute

Dozens of ScotRail services have been cancelled as weekend rail disruption continues into Monday.

The train operator has warned passengers to check services before travelling, with more than 80 services not running due to a shortage of train staff.

Around a quarter of Sunday’s services were reportedly cancelled, leading some routes to run less frequently or finish earlier than usual.

ScotRail said the disruption was due to fewer train drivers working overtime than normal, as a pay dispute with the Aslef union continues.

Monday services between Edinburgh and Helensburgh, Glasgow Central and Largs and Aberdeen and Edinburgh are among the routes affected.

Aslef informed ScotRail on Friday that it was considering a referendum on industrial action in the pay dispute.

Meanwhile, a number of train drivers have refused to work extra hours on Sundays and to do overtime, which has impacted services.

Public company ScotRail said it was traditional in the rail industry for Sunday services to rely on drivers working overtime.

The rail operator now fears that teams that need to be covered at short notice during the week, for example due to illness, will also be difficult to staff.

Aslef said the Scottish government had failed to address driver shortages and pay issues.

Kevin Lindsay, the union’s organiser in Scotland, said the government should have seen the problems coming “a mile away”.

He added: “The Scottish Government is the sole shareholder in ScotRail and yet it has completely failed to address the driver shortage problem.

“It’s a crisis entirely of their making.”

ScotRail said it had to comply with Scottish government guidelines on public sector pay and made an offer in line with them on Friday.

ScotRail’s service delivery director Mark Ilderton said the operator was sorry for the inconvenience caused to customers.

He said: “We are keen to resolve the wage dispute with the unions and will remain fully engaged in further discussions.”

ScotRail plans to recruit 160 new drivers each year for the next two years.

She said this would help address the backlog in driver training that occurred during Covid, when it was not possible to match an instructor with a trainee.