Edinburgh commuters raging as rush hour trains scrapped due to 'lack of crew'

Edinburgh commuters have been hit with cancellations due to a 'shortage of train' crew, ScotRail said.

Busy rush-hour services to and from Edinburgh have been scrapped from timetables in a moved branded 'concerning' by campaigners.

On July 3, a number of morning services, including those from Glenrothes, Livingston and Tweedbank to the city during peak times were pulled from the schedule. According to ScotRail's website, this is due to a 'shortage of train crew'.

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One commuter heading from Stirling to Edinburgh posted on X: "THREE DAYS IN A ROW now, 8.09am Stirling to Edinburgh train been cancelled because of STAFF SHORTAGES. First week of school holidays but many still have to get to their work and rely on this train.".

Another passenger heading from Edinburgh to Livingston South noticed the 5.30pm train had been cancelled. She wrote: "@ScotRail is this an error or are you genuinely cancelling a peak time train this far in advance?"

On Wednesday morning, the 6.55am and the 7.58am train from Glenrothes with Thornton to Edinburgh, which connects the Fife Circle to the city, were cancelled. For those heading home after a long day's work, the 5.12pm from Edinburgh to Glenrothes was scrapped, as was the 6.22pm to Cowdenbeath.

On the same day, the 8.08am Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street was pulled , as well as the the 4.30pm from Edinburgh to Glasgow, the 5.26pm train from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central and the 6.45pm from Glasgow to Edinburgh.

Rail Future Scotland, a campaign group for train passengers, said missing just one train 'can have a significant impact'.

A spokesperson added: "Any cancellation is regrettable because it reduces the reliability of rail travel and therefore is likely to push people back into cars. While a missing service is always a concern, this is particularly serious for a low frequency service, such as hourly or less, where just one missing train can have a very significant effect upon journey times especially where connections with other trains might be missed.

"We need to know the reasons for these cancellations, as they are not always under the control of Scotrail.We also need to know what Scotrail proposes to do to address these reasons.

Phil Campbell, ScotRail Customer Operations Director, said: “We know how frustrating it is when delays or cancellations occur, and when that does happen, anyone delayed by 30 minutes or more is entitled to compensation through our Delay Repay Guarantee, and can claim on the ScotRail website or mobile app.”