Inter-city Glasgow rail passengers will face disruption today (January 2) due to strikes and flooding.
Avanti West Coast, which connects Glasgow Central to London, North West England and the West Midlands, has urged passengers to postpone travel to tomorrow as train managers represented by the RMT union strike. The operator said Glasgow services will be ‘significantly disrupted’, with only a ‘limited service’ between Preston and Glasgow.
Services from Glasgow Queen Street to Inverness are terminating at Perth due to ‘severe weather’. Network Rail engineers were inspecting the route on Wednesday due to flooding in the village of Badenoch and Strathspey, and the Perth and Kinross town of Dalguise. As a result, all trains to and from the central belt and Inverness will come and go from Perth.
The Highland Main Line will remain closed for the rest of the day. In a statement this morning, Network Rail Scotland said: “The Highland Main Line remains closed this morning. Water levels on the Balavil Burn in Kingussie remain too high for our engineers to inspect the structure for damage caused by the flooding.
“Water levels are dropping, albeit slowly. It’s estimated it’ll take at least 6 hours to come down. As this shot taken yesterday afternoon shows, a massive amount of rain has fallen in the Kingussie area over the past few days.
“Structure examinations on the Dalguise viaduct and the Gynack Burn have been successful, with no damage to either being found by our team. Safety is our number one priority, so the line will remain closed until we can inspect the bridge over Balavil Burn safely.”
On the West Coast Mainline, Avanti workers are taking their second day of strike action this week after industrial action on New Year’s Eve. The RMT union so train managers ‘overwhelmingly’ rejecting the company’s latest offer in an ongoing dispute over rest day working arrangements.
RMT members plan to strike every Sunday from January 12 until May 25 while the dispute rattles on. No Avanti trains will run to or from Edinburgh today.
Urging passengers to avoid travelling today, Avanti said customers with existing tickets for January 2 can travel up to and including Saturday (January 4). If customers who booked tickets to travel on either side of the strike days before industrial action was announced (December 17) would rather not travel, they can claim a full, fee-free refund from their point of purchase, Avanti said.
Kathryn O’Brien, Executive Director of Customer Experience at Avanti West Coast, said: “We’re disappointed by the RMT calling strike action on December 31 and January 2. Our customers will face significantly disrupted journeys as a result, and I would like to thank them for their patience and understanding.
“On the two strike days we’ll have a significantly reduced service, so customers with tickets for 31 December or 2 January are strongly advised to travel on alternative dates or claim a full fee-free refund. We remain open to working with the RMT to resolve the dispute.”
Mick Lynch, RMT general secretary said: “Avanti West Coast created this dispute by ignoring train managers’ concerns and presenting offers those members deemed unacceptable. The company must come forward with a revised proposal so we can avoid more strike action further into 2025.”
A spokesperson for the RMT union said: “Avanti West Coast train managers will strike on December 31st and January 2nd after overwhelmingly rejecting the company’s latest offer to resolve an ongoing dispute.
“The rejected offer followed Avanti management paying £300 or more to management grades to cover rest day working.
“Train managers argue that Avanti has failed to address their concerns adequately, leading to the action. RMT remains open to resolving the issue and urges Avanti to take immediate action.”
Join Glasgow Live’s WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
Sign up to our daily Glasgow Live newsletter here to receive news and features direct to your inbox