Rail strikes

The National Traffic Control Centre was stood up this morning and the Scottish Government’s resilience committee held a further meeting yesterday ahead of rail strikes planned for the end of this week and into the weekend.

Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf, was given an update on Scotrail’s preparations for the industrial action.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Yousaf said:

“These rail strikes are continuing to inconvenience people right across the country. It’s particularly disappointing that they are falling on the week of the Open Championship which is one of the highlights of Scotland’s sporting calendar, bringing over 180,000 visitors to Troon.

“However, rail passengers should note that travel planning is well advanced with ScotRail offering an enhanced timetable above the regular provision. More services and carriages will run between Glasgow Central and Troon throughout Thursday to Sunday to allow the vast majority of people to travel to and from the venue with minimum disruption to travel plans.

“The National Traffic Control Centre is being staffed in order to monitor the travel situation during the week and over the weekend, and make sure that the tournament organisers, transport providers and the public are kept well informed throughout.

“I would recommend that people wishing to travel to Troon via train check the latest advice from ScotRail using the live journey planner on their website or their app and leave plenty of time for their journey.

“These strikes are disrupting passengers and affecting the reputation of Scotland’s railways, and they should be suspended to allow talks to conclude and a way forward agreed.

“I would like to thank the public for their continued patience during this period of dispute.”