Tayside and Fife commuters face more misery this week as the regions are left with almost no trains for two days due to strike action.
Network Rail signallers and maintenance staff will walk out on Thursday and Saturday in a dispute over pay and working conditions.
The strike will mean just two ScotRail services running per hour between Edinburgh Waverley and Inverkeithing, also serving North Queensferry.
No other services will run in Tayside or elsewhere in Fife, while there will be no LNER services north of Edinburgh on either day.
Customers are also being warned the strike will have a knock-on effect for the majority of the week.
The latest walkout comes as services between Tayside, Fife and Edinburgh are busier than normal due to the Edinburgh Festival.
ScotRail says although none of its staff are involved in the strike, the safety-critical nature of the roles of those involved means most services cannot operate.
ScotRail reveals impact of strike on trains
A statement from the operator said: “Unfortunately, Network Rail will be unable to open any other signal boxes to operate passenger services on any other routes on the strike days.
“As there will be very limited services running, please only travel if necessary.
“If you have to travel, you should expect disruption and plan ahead.
“On the evening before (Wednesday August 17), the day in between (Friday August 19) and the morning after (Sunday, 21 August) the strike action there will be disruption caused by the closing and reopening of signal boxes at different times across the country.
Due to the greater reliance on manual signalling outside the central belt, Network Rail is unable to facilitate passenger services on any other routes
“Final services will depart well before 6.30pm, so customers should plan ahead to ensure they know when their last train will run.
“Due to the greater reliance on manual signalling outside the central belt, Network Rail is unable to facilitate passenger services on any other routes on the strike days.”
David Simpson, ScotRail’s service delivery director, said: “We are able to operate on more routes than on the previous day of strike action, however, we are still only able to run a very limited number of services on these routes, so we’re advising customers to seek alternative means of transport and to only travel if they really need to.”
Services in Tayside and Fife have already been affected by several strikes this summer.
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