Returning Scotland’s rail services to normal after weeks of disruption to the timetable will take “a week to ten days” if unions accept an improved pay offer, Scotrail have said.
David Simpson, service delivery director at the nationalised rail service, said that he remains hopeful train drivers will accept an improved pay rise offer of 5 per cent when it is put to them by their union.
The dispute has seen a temporary timetable put in place, leading to more than 700 services being cancelled.
Aslef is now due to meet next week, and then drivers will get to vote on the offer, which will see pay increase by 5%, along with more money for rest day and Sunday working, driving instructor and maternity pay, as well as a policy of no compulsory redundancies for the next five years.
Scotrail was nationalised in April
Mr Simpson said: “The key next step is the Aslef executive committee meeting next week. That’ll determine that this be a referendum, and the timescale for that – we're already working on how quickly we can return the service to normal should we be able to.
“But until we know how that meeting on Wednesday goes, it’s hard to plan for that. We are absolutely keen to restore the full timetable as quickly as possible because we know how much disruption and frustration it’s causing customers over the last few weeks.
“So that’s our priority, but it does depend n=on what we hear back from Aslef from their national meeting.”
He told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that work had already begun to restore services, and that Scotrail expects progress to be quick if the offer is accepted.
He said: “It’s typically round about a week. It depends on the timing of any decision and where that fits in with where we populate industry systems for signaling and so forth and the length of time that takes.
“A week to ten days at most. We would look to prepare for that as best we can once we get an indication from Aslef of timescales and try to shorten that process.
“We are aware of the frustration the reduced services causes some customers currently and we are keen to the full timetable just as quickly and safely as we can do so.”
According to ScotRail, 2.2% of the increase will be funded by Transport Scotland – which said the cash was already in its budget because of an earlier dispute with the TSSA and Unite unions last year – with the remaining 2.8% coming from ScotRail’s coffers.
Speaking yesterday, Kevin Lindsay, Aslef’s Scottish organiser, said: “We are pleased that today significant progress has been made in our latest round of talks with ScotRail.
“All these proposals, we believe, represent a breakthrough and significant progress and is a recognition of the vital role our members play for society and the economy.
“The full Aslef negotiating team is recommending acceptance of the offer to our members through a referendum subject to executive committee approval.”
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