Highland Sunday train services cut
Buses will replace some train services operating out of Inverness on Sundays due to a shortage of available train drivers.
ScotRail has cancelled a third of its normal Sunday services for the foreseeable future after pay talks with the train drivers’ union Aslef failed to produce an agreement.
Although the impact in the Highlands is not as great as elsewhere, some services on the Far North line out of Inverness will be replaced by buses. Passengers are advised to check the amended rail timetable listing cancelled services and those with reduced frequency.
Inverness business and tourism leaders have raised concerns about the potential impact on the area especially as the main holiday season is now underway.
Stewart Nicol, chief executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce, was among those urging the two parties to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
Mr Stewart said there was already an over-reliance on the rail network in the region given its geography and he had previously called for more services and faster journey times.
"This is a backward step from an already poor position," he said. "This has come very late at a very inappropriate time."
ScotRail - which is now operated by Dutch company Abellio - said Sunday rail services in Scotland were partly dependent on voluntary cover being provided by train drivers. But the number volunteering for Sunday work had declined steeply due to ongoing pay negotiations. It has offered drivers a 2.5 per cent pay rise and a one-off bonus, and also proposed increasing driver numbers by 100.
But Aslef accused the operator of failing to negotiate properly and fairly. It claimed the company was trying to railroad through the new terms and conditions at the expense of the train drivers providing the service to passengers.
The newly-published Sunday timetable can be viewed on www.scotrail.co.uk/sundays.
* City business and tourism leaders voice their concerns in today’s Inverness Courier about the possible impact of the reduced services.
