A SECOND weekend of Sunday rail disruption has been averted after ScotRail struck a deal that will see train drivers offered a no strings attached 2.5 pay rise and overtime earnings worth up to £4,200.
It comes after two days of crisis talks between ScotRail management and representatives from the train drivers' union, Aslef.
The operator was forced to withdraw more than a third of scheduled services on Sunday due to a shortage of drivers volunteering to work overtime amid an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.
It faced a repeat of disruption this Sunday - the first day of the Open golf championship in St Andrews - unless the deadlock was broken.
The agreement, if accepted by Aslef members, will see ScotRail drivers receive a 2.5 per cent salary increase along with overtime payments of £67.50 per Sunday shift until ScotRail recruits additional drivers to enable it to move to a seven-day working week.
Drivers will also receive back pay for each Sunday worked since April 1 2015.
The one year deal will equate to up to £4,200 additional income on top of the agreed pay rise, which is no longer linked to controversial changes to breaks or proposals to reduce training time.
It will also halt a plans by Aslef to ballot their members for strike action or action just short of a strike which, if voted for, would have caused serious disruption to the network from August 17.
Phil Verster, Managing Director of the ScotRail Alliance, said: "I am pleased to confirm we have agreed a deal that will ensure we can run our existing services on a Sunday and help us develop plans to make Sunday part of the working week.
"We run a seven day railway, so it is hugely important that we have staff rosters that can cover this. The commitment from the unions to work with us to change the way we roster Sundays will allow us to recruit new drivers and will, ultimately, deliver a much improved service for our customers.
"We are now contacting drivers to seek to their cooperation to reinstate services from Sunday 12 July. I am hopeful that, with their support, we will be able to run a near-normal service. We will know more later today and would urge customers to check our website for updates."
A fully-qualified train driver who has completed training and a probationary period receives a starting salary of around £39,000.
Kevin Lindsay, Scottish Secretary of Aslef, said the union was "reasonably content" with the agreement, and would recommend that its members to accept the terms.
He added that the tone of negotiations between the union and new ScotRail franchise-holder, Abellio, had improved.
He said: "The hostilities are no longer there.
"We have managed to reach an agreement that's acceptable to ourselves, but more importantly to the drivers who give up their Sundays to work."
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