Commuters are enduring another day of misery across Scotland’s rail network following a fresh string of service cancellations.
Of the 47 listed cancellations on the ScotRail website on Tuesday morning, 22 of the journeys were once again called off due to a shortage of train crew.
As explained in The Courier on Monday, the firm says “compressed” staff training is currently being carried out as a result of the late delivery of new Hitachi and Wabtec trains.
This has led to a knock-on effect on services across the country, with cancellations expected to endure for the time being.
On Monday at least 57 of more than 70 cancelled services were put down to a “shortage of train crew”, much to the frustration of passengers across the country.
Dundee, Angus and Fife services are among those once again affected by a shortage of train crew on Tuesday.
Twelve trains to local stations have been affected by the staffing issues.
They are:
- 11.08am Edinburgh to Glenrothes
- 11.58am Dunblane to Edinburgh
- 12.21pm Glenrothes to Edinburgh
- 1.23pm Edinburgh to Dunblane
- 2.58pm Dunblane to Edinburgh
- 6.59pm Edinburgh to Dundee
- 8.04pm Edinburgh to Dunblane
- 9.21pm Dundee to Arbroath
- 9.27pm Dunblane to Edinburgh
- 10.04pm Edinburgh to Dunblane
- 10.05pm Arbroath to Dundee
- 22.35pm Dundee to Arbroath
An issue with overhead electric wires and electricity supply has also affected services in and around Glasgow Central Station.
Passengers have been warned that service disruption as a result of ScotRail staff shortages will “remain” for the time being as crew training continues.
However on Monday, ScotRail Alliance managing director Alex Hynes said commuters “can expect an improvement in the coming weeks”.
He added: “We’re sorry to customers for the disruption to services in recent weeks. We know the impact this has on your day, and are working flat out to get things back to normal.
“The disruption has been caused by two key factors:
“1. Late delivery of new trains by Hitachi and Wabtec means the training that is required for our train crew, on new trains and new routes, has had to be compressed into a very short space of time.
“Day-to-day services have had to be cancelled to allow our people to take part in training.
“2. RMT industrial action meant there was an overtime ban for some of our people, which lasted for several weeks.
“This is now resolved but made the problem of train crew training worse.
“Training is ongoing so that we can get services back to normal and we can expect an improvement in the coming weeks.
“But while we continue to train our conductors and drivers some disruption will remain.”
He added: “We know this isn’t acceptable, and are sorry to customers about this. Every single person at the ScotRail Alliance is working hard to improve things for our customers as soon as possible.
“Customers should check @ScotRail on Twitter and visit JourneyCheck.com/scotrail before travelling.”
