Edinburgh commuters issued warning as ScotRail enforces temporary timetable

Katie Williams
·2-min read
Journeys between Edinburgh Waverley and Haymarket were subject to delays on Monday morning
-Credit: (Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)


ScotRail has launched a temporary timetable for commuters across Scotland 'to provide more certainty'.

The train operator has explained that they are running with fewer train drivers than normal due to a pay dispute and to 'provide certainty' following a wave of cancellations, new timetable affecting Edinburgh routes has been confirmed on Wednesday morning.

This comes after ScotRail told customers a new timetable would be released and the website would be updated by 10pm on Tuesday night. However due to the 'volume of changes', the website did not update until Wednesday morning- much to the frustration of those planning their morning commute to work.

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According to the new timetable, there will be two services per hour during peak morning services between Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts, Fife to Edinburgh and Edinburgh to Stirling. There will be three trains per hour from Prestonpans and North Berwick to Edinburgh during the morning rush hour and just one ScotRail service per hour from Dunbar to Edinburgh.

During the 'core daytime' services will drop to hourly across the popular routes until the evening rush hour where two services will run hourly.

On Wednesday morning, ScotRail notified customers that National Rail's timetable does not 'reflect' the updated one. On X, ScotRail wrote: "Unfortunately due to a National Rail issue our app and website does not reflect our new temporary timetable. We are very sorry to those who were waiting to check their services this morning. As soon as we have more information, we will provide an update."

ScotRail said: "This is a result of the ongoing impact of fewer train drivers than normal currently available for overtime or rest day working, as is their contractual right, following confirmation from drivers’ trade union ASLEF that it will recommend to its Executive Committee a ballot for industrial action over pay.

"While we're recruiting 160 new drivers each year to improve resilience, some rest day working and overtime is still needed to deliver a normal timetable. This has historically been the case in the railway and is replicated in other train operators across Britain.

"We know customers want certainty and reliability, which is why we are introducing a temporary timetable - operating around 1,660 services each day - in place of late-notice cancellations."

You can see more information on the ScotRail website.

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