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Network Rail strikes to disrupt almost all ScotRail services

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ScotRail said it would only be able to keep 11 services open on the strike days

Rail passengers in Scotland have been warned they face "significant disruption" during strike action later this week.

The Network Rail action takes place on 18 and 20 August.

ScotRail said the UK-wide dispute did not involve its staff but would have a "major knock-on effect" in Scotland with just 11 routes open.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union is in a dispute with Network Rail over jobs, pay and conditions.

More than 40,000 railway workers across the UK will go on strike on Thursday and Saturday, but services are likely to be affected on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday too.

When the RMT went on strike in July, only about 20% of services ran on strike days and some parts of the country had no trains at all.

ScotRail said only a "very limited number" of services would be operating across the central belt, Fife, and the Scottish Borders on strike days. Trains will only run between 07:30 and 18:30, with final services departing well before that time.

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Which routes will be open on strike days?

  • Edinburgh Waverley - Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High: two trains per hour 
  • Edinburgh Waverley - Helensburgh Central: two trains per hour 
  • Glasgow Central - Hamilton/Larkhall: two trains per hour 
  • Glasgow Central - Lanark: two trains per hour 
  • Edinburgh Waverley - Glasgow Central via Shotts: one train per hour
  • Edinburgh Waverley - Inverkeithing: two trains per hour
  • Edinburgh Waverley - Tweedbank: two trains per hour
  • Edinburgh Waverley - North Berwick: one train per hour
  • Glasgow Queen Street - Larbert: one train per hour
  • Glasgow Queen Street - Falkirk Grahamston: one train per hour
  • Milngavie - Springburn: two trains per hour

 Source: ScotRail. Check this page for further information

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ScotRail said it was advising passengers only to travel if they really needed to.

 Disruption is also expected on Friday and Sunday as signal boxes are reopened at different times across the country.

David Simpson, ScotRail service delivery director, said:  "It is very unfortunate to see such widespread disruption across the whole of the Great Britain rail network and we know this will be frustrating for ScotRail customers. 

"Regrettably, this strike action by RMT members of Network Rail means that we will not be able to operate the vast majority of our services during the period of strike action. Customers should expect significant disruption to services on strike days, as well as the following day. 

 "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."