More rail disruption as strike confirmed

PASSENGERS face four days of disruption on Scotland's railways next week after unions announced further strikes as part of a long-running safety dispute.

The RMT said 550 guards, drivers and sleeper-train managers at First ScotRail would take part in industrial action from Monday in opposition to plans to run "driver-only" trains on the new 300 million Airdrie-Bathgate line, due to open this year. The union said guards and drivers would not book on for shifts between Monday and Wednesday, while sleeper train managers would strike between Tuesday and Thursday.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT, said: "Our members' determination to defend rail safety is second to none and if the company, and Transport Scotland, thought that this issue would fade away then they didn't reckon with the grit of RMT members."

ScotRail said it "deeply regretted" that talks involving the conciliation service Acas had failed. Steve Montgomery, managing director of ScotRail, said: "I welcomed the Acas meeting as a step in the right direction – but the only step taken by the union was backwards. Instead of conciliation, there was intransigence."