Provisional deal agreed in rail dispute

Published on Thursday 29 July 2010 16:09

THE end to a long-running rail dispute on Scotland's newest line may be in sight after ScotRail and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) reached a provisional agreement.

An outline "memorandum of understanding" was struck at the conciliation service Acas yesterday. It will go for approval before union chiefs next week.

This could prevent further strikes over ScotRail's plans for drivers to control train doors on the new Edinburgh-Glasgow route via Bathgate and Airdrie from December. The move would mean drivers taking over this role from conductors, which had sparked safety worries from the union and fears that some trains might run without a second staff member on board.

A ScotRail spokesman said: "We are hopeful that this will be accepted by the RMT executive next week."

But RMT Scottish organiser Ian MacIntyre said: "We agreed to disagree."

The union is also concerned about the potential for similar changes on other lines such as the main Edinburgh-Glasgow route, which is due to have new electric trains in 2016.