Rail bosses in vow to keep trains on track

RAIL bosses have vowed to run nine out of ten trains across the country tomorrow during a 24-hour walkout by staff.

Members of the RMT union are set to take part in the first of three one-day strikes over ScotRail's plans to run "driver-only" trains on the new 300 million Airdrie-Bathgate route.

The union believes running trains without guards will put passengers' safety at risk, a claim denied by ScotRail.

The train company said it aimed to run all services between Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street and 90 per cent of services in Scotland as a whole.

Steve Montgomery, managing director of ScotRail, said: "It is business as usual for Scotland's railway. Our contingency plans are such that almost all our customers will not notice there is a strike."

The RMT has also voted to strike on 1 March and Saturday, 13 March – the day of the Scotland v England RBS 6 Nations game at Murrayfield.

Meanwhile, the RMT yesterday announced a ballot for national industrial action of rail maintenance workers. The union said the vote was in response to the threat of redundancies as part of a national drive to axe up to 1,500 jobs.