Commuters faced travel misery as the first in a series of planned rail strikes led to an increase in rush-hour congestion.

Traffic Scotland warned traffic was "much heavier than normal this morning due to the rail strike" and congestion in Edinburgh city centre caused disruption to tram journeys.

Train operator ScotRail estimated about 30% of its services were unable to run, hitting tens of thousands of passengers, due to the 24-hour walk-out in a dispute over driver-only trains.

A total of 15 routes, including Glasgow to Inverness and Edinburgh to Aberdeen, were cancelled while the frequency of other services was cut in half.

An Edinburgh Trams spokesman said there were "significant delays" caused by city-centre congestion and services were shortened.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, which is opposed to the extension of driver-only and driver-controlled services, balloted ScotRail conductors last month, saying it had not received the assurances it had sought on the issue from the company.

These included guarantees the safety role of conductors and their role in operating train doors would not be reduced or abolished.

Guards at the RMT backed walkouts by a ratio of 3:1, prompting the union to announce seven days of strikes during June and July.

The first day-long strike got under way first thing on Tuesday after planned peace talks failed on Monday.

General secretary Mick Cash said: "The strike on ScotRail is solid as a rock this morning with our members united and determined in the fight for jobs and safety on Scotland's railways.

"This morning ScotRail communications department have let the cat out of the bag and have made it clear that driver operation of the safety-critical functions on our trains is their core objective on all services. That is what this strike is about. The safety of passengers and staff alike.

"ScotRail, and their Dutch owners Abellio, now need to stop the posturing, the dirty tricks and the ultimatums, and get back round the table for serious and meaningful talks. "

ScotRail managing director Phil Verster said the strike is "totally needless".

He said: "The RMT have refused point blank to talk to us about how we modernise and improve Scotland's railway. Instead they have hidden behind a national policy that says that nothing must ever change.

"Tens of thousands of our customers will be disrupted and hundreds of our own people will be hit financially as a result of their intransigence.

"The public will be astonished to hear that this is a strike only about who opens and closes doors on trains, nothing more.

"The RMT are being, at best, disingenuous when they tell people that we are trying to have driver-only trains. We are not.

"We will still schedule a second person on-board when we bring in the amazing new faster, longer, greener electric trains from next year."

Transport minister Humza Yousaf urged both sides to keep talking as he described the action as "very disappointing".

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A ScotRail spokeswoman said: "Today, thousands of people are being disrupted and hundreds of our people being hit financially - due to a totally unnecessary strike.

"The railway is very much open for business and we are doing everything we can to keep people moving.

"Today we are running 70% of our services, carrying 72% of our normal passenger numbers, and we are working to increase those percentages if the strikes continue.

"The RMT should call off this action, get back round the table and start meaningful discussions with us about ways we can continue to modernise and improve our railway."

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ScotRail has been accused of drawing up a secret strategy to "smash" unions and "smuggle" in driver-only trains, the issue at the centre of the current dispute.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union said it had seen documents that "nail the company lie" that there is no threat to guards' jobs and their safety-critical role.

The union claimed the documents were issued in error by ScotRail last night and then subsequently withdrawn.

According to the RMT, the documents showed the widespread extension of driver-only trains and the deployment of ticket examiners to replace conductors at short notice.

"They imply conductors are a 'weak link' in operation of trains and wrongly blame conductors for lower train punctuality when it is the quality of infrastructure and rolling stock that determines performance," said the union.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "These documents, issued in error by the company, expose a hidden agenda of union busting, job cuts and attacks on safety that RMT always said was at the heart of this dispute. They blow apart the company spin that there is no threat and that our action is premature.

"The workforce has said all along that any extension of driver-only operation is a clear attack on our members' hard-earned terms and conditions and that RMT members should not have to face the risk of their role and responsibilities being reduced and undermined. ScotRail accused us of lying but they have now been caught out red-handed and they should be ashamed of themselves.

"In light of these extraordinary revelations it is time for the Scottish Parliament to step in and call a halt to the cloak-and-dagger attacks on jobs, services and safety and force ScotRail to come to the table and start talking with us openly and honestly."

A ScotRail spokeswoman said: "Last night, one of a series of internal discussion documents which looked at all the ideas as to how we might modernise and improve our service to our customers was made available to our staff in error. It was swiftly withdrawn and an explanation sent to our people about the error and to make clear that this was in no way a formal proposal.

"However, we shouldn't let this distract from the real issue. Today, thousands of people are being disrupted - and hundreds of our people are being hit financially - due to a totally unnecessary strike.

"We are doing everything we can to keep people moving, the railway is very much open for business. Today we will be running 70% of our services, allowing us to carry 72% of our normal passenger load. We will be working to increase those numbers if the strikes continue.

"The RMT should call off this action, get back round the table and start meaningful discussions with us about how we continue to modernise and improve our railway."

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