SCOTRAIL has announced it will operate only 11 routes during two days of industrial action this week. 

The train operator is warning customers to expect significant disruption due to strikes by RMT members of Network Rail.

The action, which will take place on Thursday, August 18, and Saturday, August 20, is resulting from a pay dispute with Network Rail.  

While this does not involve ScotRail staff, many of the Network Rail workersthat are due to take part occupy safety-critical roles.

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Therefore, it will not be possible for ScotRail to run the vast majority of services.     

The company is asking passengers to only travel if they really need to and consider alternative options where possible.  

David Simpson, ScotRail service delivery director, said:  “It is very unfortunate to see such widespread disruption across the whole of the Great Britain rail network and we know this will be frustrating for ScotRail customers.     

“Regrettably, this strike action by RMT members of Network Rail means that we will not be able to operate the vast majority of our services during the period of strike action.

"Customers should expect significant disruption to services on strike days, as well as the following day.    

“We are able to operate on more routes than on the previous day of strike action, however, we are still only able to run a very limited number of services on these routes, so we’re advising customers to seek alternative means of transport and to only travel if they really need to.”

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What ScotRail services are running during the RMT strikes?

There will be no service except on 11 ScotRail routes across the Central Belt, Fife, and Borders.   

Services on the following routes will run on these days:     

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 – Inverkeithing: two trains per hour

Edinburgh Waverley – Tweedbank: two trains per hour Edinburgh Waverley – North Berwick: 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   

Due to the greater reliance on manual signalling outside the Central Belt, Network Rail is unable to facilitate passenger services on any other routes on the strike days.  

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What times will the railway be open during strikes?

The railway will only be operational between 07.30 and 18.30 on 18 and 20 August.

Final services will depart well before 18.30, so customers should plan ahead to ensure they know when their last train will run.      

Will disruption from strikes continue on the following days?

 Disruption to ScotRail services will not be confined to the days of strike action and will also impact the day following each day of action – Friday, August 19 and Sunday, August 21.    

On the days following strike action, there will be disruption caused by the reopening of signal boxes at different times across the country.

Signal boxes are key pieces of infrastructure located across the rail network that control train movements, their use is critical to ensure that the railway can operate safely.     

While large signalling centres in the Central Belt will be able to operate from 07.15am, this will not be the case at manual boxes elsewhere and it may well be early afternoon before many routes are able to operate as normal.

This is particularly the case for routes beyond the Central Belt.