ScotRail: Sunday train services cancelled in U-turn decision - temporary timetable explained

ScotRail has warned of more cancellations following an announcement that no temporary timetable would be brought in for Saturday and Sunday.

The train operator had previously given assurances there would be late-night services.

However, it announced on Saturday morning it had been “unable” to implement a temporary timetable due to the complexities involved.

What has ScotRail said?

A statement from ScotRail said: “Unfortunately, it hasn’t been possible to implement a temporary timetable for tomorrow. That means the normal Sunday timetable will be in operation and there will be cancellations as a result.

“The complexities of pulling together such widespread changes to timetables means it’s not possible to do it in such a short space of time. We apologise to customers and advise them to check their journeys on our website and app before travelling.”

Why have there been cancellations?

A third of ScotRail train services have been dropped from timetables from Monday 23 May, causing major disruption for thousands of travellers, with more than 700 services cut as part of temporary timetable changes brought about by a dispute over drivers’ pay.

The company has been placed under increasing pressure to resolve the pay dispute with the Aslef union, which has seen drivers across the network refuse overtime and rest day working.

This week, ScotRail put forward an offer of 4.2%, which Aslef will ask drivers to vote on next week.

How quickly could services get back to normal?

If accepted, it is hoped services will return to normal, although the operator warned this could take around 10 days.

David Simpson, delivery director for ScotRail, said on Friday: “It’s a complex process and involved all parts of the industry changing rosters, and we would need to do that as quickly as possible, but it could be up to 10 days to get fully back to normal.

“We are also reviewing the current timetable and we have added some more late-night services for tonight and tomorrow night and looking to the football on Wednesday – Scotland versus Ukraine – to do more there.

“We are trying to be as flexible as possible until we can get the full timetable back.”

Which routes are affected?

Around 700 services have been affected running the length and breadth of Scotland.

The full list of impacted services can be seen on the ScotRail website, which was last updated on Thursday 26 May.

The site states: “We’ve been relying on drivers working overtime or on their rest days to run a normal timetable, as the pandemic meant that training new drivers was significantly delayed. Without COVID and that impact on training, we would have trained around an extra 130 drivers today.

“Following an announcement by the drivers’ union ASLEF that it will ballot for industrial action over pay, a significant number of drivers have been declining to make themselves available for overtime or rest day working. This has resulted in the recent disruption and our need to introduce a temporary timetable going forward.”

If you had already planned a journey that has now been affected by the timetable changed, you are able to use your ticket to travel on an alternative service that day, or the day before or after your planned journey.

You can also seek a refund with no additional admin fee - you can find out more about refunds on the ScotRail website.