Bosses plan to draft in help if rail staff vote for strike

SCOTTISH rail passengers face the threat of disruption from as early as next week after the results of a conductors' strike ballot are announced tomorrow.

The move comes as The Scotsman learned that ScotRail will draft in managers from other train operators to replace strikers if a walk-out goes ahead.

The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union is balloting more than 500 staff over plans to dispense with conductors on a new Edinburgh-Glasgow line via Airdrie and Bathgate.

They would be replaced with lower-paid ticket examiners, with drivers taking over the operation of train doors.

The RMT argued the move threatened safety and breached contracts – claims denied by ScotRail. The union also said the proposal was the thin end of the wedge, and would be followed by conductors being phased out on other routes.

Since last month, ScotRail has been training more than 200 managers to keep services running in case the RMT calls a strike from next Tuesday – the earliest possible date after the ballot. It has also drafted in senior staff for the two-weeks' training from other train operators owned by Aberdeen-based parent company FirstGroup, which runs First TransPennine Express, First Great Western, Hull Trains, and First Capital Connect around London. It is understood this will enable ScotRail to keep services running normally on the main Edinburgh-Glasgow route and the Edinburgh/Glasgow-Inverness and Edinburgh-Aberdeen lines.

Many trains are also expected to run on other routes, including the Fife Circle, but some services may be replaced by buses. ScotRail is confident it can run so many trains during a strike despite employing nearly 550 conductors.

The dispute is over the planned reopening of the Airdrie-Bathgate line in December, which will provide a new east-west link. It will be served by trains which currently run east as far as Drumgelloch, near Airdrie, whose drivers operate the doors.

They will replace trains running between Bathgate and Edinburgh, whose doors are operated by conductors.

So-called "driver-only operation" is currently restricted to routes in Strathclyde, where it was introduced in the 1980s. Such routes would not be affected by a strike. An RMT spokesman said: "There is a lot of anger over this. We would not be going this far if members were not up for a fight to stop driver-only operation being extended. By trying to save money they are diluting safety."

ScotRail said no jobs were threatened and the new route would create 130 new posts. It said employing ticket examiners (paid one-fifth less) rather than conductors on the route would save 330,000 a year. This would reduce Scottish Government payments to the train operator.

A spokesman said: "It would be deeply disappointing if this unjustified action went ahead."

Transport minister Stewart Stevenson backed driver-only operation when he met the RMT last month. A spokeswoman said then: "The minister is clear that safety must be central to the running of the railway in Scotland and is not aware of any case having been made for any existing practices on Scotland's railways being unsafe."