This afternoon (Friday, 4 November), the RMT trade union confirmed that the planned strike action by its Network Rail members due to take place tomorrow (Saturday, 5 November), Monday (7 November), and Wednesday (9 November) has been suspended to allow for further negotiations.
With strike action now suspended, ScotRail has now begun the complex process of restoring its full timetable. It will take some time to return services to normal, as the process involves changing rosters for staff, getting trains to where they need to be, and working with Network Rail to ensure routes are ready for services to operate.
ScotRail is working flat out to reintroduce the full timetable as soon as possible. Due to the complexity of the process and the short period of time available, the limited timetable that was due to operate during the planned strike action will remain in place for tomorrow (Saturday, 5 November). The timetable is as follows between the hours of 07.30 and 18.30:
- Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High: two trains per hour
- Edinburgh Waverley – Helensburgh Central: two trains per hour (on 5 November this will operate Edinburgh Waverley - Dalmuir only due to pre-planned engineering works)
- 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 - 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
ScotRail will update customers on the resumption of its full timetable as soon as possible and is encouraging customers to check their journey before they travel over the coming days.
David Simpson, ScotRail Service Delivery Director, said:
“ScotRail welcomes the announcement that planned strike action on 5, 7, and 9 November by RMT members at Network Rail has been suspended.
“Strike action does nothing for the railway’s recovery or reputation at this fragile time. It impacts customers, staff, and the economy.
“We’re now working hard to restore the timetable to normal as soon as possible, but this will take time. It’s too late to restore a full timetable for Saturday because of the complexity of rewriting timetables and rosters for thousands of our staff. A skeleton service will still operate on Saturday between 07.30 and 18.30.
“We’d encourage anyone planning to travel by rail over the next few days to check their journey before travel on our website or social media channels.”