Fears ScotRail 'chaos' will last weeks as transport minister says emergency timetable was 'reliable'

ScotRail said the temporary but indefinite move to axe 700 services came as a result of the drivers pay dispute which has meant some refusing to take up the option of working rest days and Sundays.

But passengers spoke of a “shambles” on Sunday when over 400 services were affected by the driver shortages as ScotRail were unable to put in place a temporary timetable in time.

On another chaotic ScotRail day on Monday, while the temporary weekday timetable  was to expected to remain in place for the Scotland v Ukraine World Cup clash on Wednesday, extra late trains were found at the 11th hour.

The changes came hot on the heels of a chaotic Saturday, when again late night train services were laid on at the 11th hour in some areas hours after a new driver shortage timetable released on Friday had axed them.

The late train to some areas had disappeared in many areas - with final trips setting out up to four hours earlier before any night outs would have barely begun.

Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson MSP warned that it make take weeks to get back to a normal timetable and asked what contingency plans the Scottish Government had in place should train drivers reject the latest 4.4% pay offer.

Transport minister Jenny Gilruth said: "The temporary timetable that ScotRail put in place is delivering a reliable service moving around 90% of passenger numbers prior to the current disruption.

"On Friday and Saturday, last week, additional late evening services were added because drivers continue not to work the rest days as is their right, and services were disrupted on Sunday. Now I know that has inconvenienced and frustrated many travellers. ScotRail will continue to look at what more can be done to improve weekend service available."

Mr Simpson responded: "So there are no contingency plans then. Even if Aslef recommends members accept the offer tomorrow, it will take three weeks to ballot them. So that's nearly a month of disruption to start with.

"It was carnage on the railways at the weekend. We're in this mess because drivers don't want to work on their days off. Why should they?

"The RMT's Mick Hogg says it could take five years to resolve. Is he right? We could face the same disruption next year, but the government rejected a multi-year deal. Why do that? It's crazy. We need stability right now. Not chaos. When is the Minister going to deliver it? "

Ms Gilruth said that the dispute could he resolved tomorrow, if Aslef accepted the new offer.

She went on: " I'm not going to shy away from some of the very real challenges which passengers faced over the past two weeks. But Mr Simpson does need to remember why this is happening. It is action short of an industrial action but it's nonetheless true to say as Mr Simpson has outlined, that Scotland's train drivers have been choosing not to work on their rest day.

"The rail network in Scotland has been dependent on rest day working for decades. It's not a new invention that occurred on the first of April, and it's not unique to Scotland."

She said other services such as Transpennine Express had also had to operate a reduced timetable during an industrial dispute.

"Now ScotRail did make the difficult decision to implement a reduced table from last week, that was to allow for greater certainty for passengers," Ms Gilruth added. "Now clearly what happened on Sunday was far from ideal, but I am told that is because Scotland did not have enough drivers making themselves available to work on Sunday, [so it] was very difficult to timetable on Sunday accordingly.

"Now Aslef will put the offer to the executive committee tomorrow, I don't necessarily accept Mr Simpson's description that this could take up to three weeks to resolve. "

Mr Simpson said there remained concerns over the rail services available to the Tartan Army wanting to get home from Hampden after the World Cup qualifier, and went on to ask was being done to cater for forthcoming major events such as the Edinburgh Fringe and the 150th Open at St Andrews, as well as major gigs at the Hydro in Glasgow.

"Does the minister not think there is actually a basic safety issue here, particularly for young women and what will she do about it," he asked.

Ms Gilruth pointed out extra late services had been laid on over the weekend.

"There was a delay I concede in announcing the services from ScotRail, of course it is an operational matter for ScotRail, but this was to ensure the timetable was robust and deliverable and to give passengers reassurance and certainty of service. I think it's also worth saying there has been some unclear and unhelpful commentary this week about the final services for fans travelling home to some locations after the game.

"For fans in the north and some in the south, the temporary timetable actually makes little difference. And many of these fans of course will be travelling by private bus hire."

Scotland’s key tie with Ukraine is due to start at 7.45pm at Hampden, however the last train to major towns and cities such as Kilmarnock, Dundee, Dumfries and Perth, appeared to be continuing to leave Glasgow before kick-off under the new arrangements.