ScotRail passengers have endured unexpected additional disruption because of an increasing number of late-notice cancellations despite trains already being reduced by one quarter by a pay dispute. Some 60 services were halted or truncated on Friday due to shortages of train crew compared to about 20 on Thursday and some 30 on Wednesday, when the train operator introduced an indefinite “temporary timetable” that featured 600 fewer daily trains. Advertisement Advertisement Sign up for the latest news and analysis about Scottish transport Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.
Services are also scheduled to be reduced by up to half on Sundays . The additional cancellations came despite ScotRail saying the new timetable would increase reliability for passengers after some drivers stopped volunteering for overtime following the rejection of a 9.3 per cent, three-year pay offer.
They included between Edinburgh and Dundee, Fife, Dunblane, North Berwick and Tweedbank in the Borders, and between Glasgow and Gourock and Oban. The Scottish Government-owned train operator said on Friday that it “can take a few days for the temporary timetable to bed in”. However, Edinburgh-based former transport consultant Robert Drysdale posted on X/Twitter: “The 'temporary' timetable was supposed to give pa.