Fears that strikes will deter rail commuters permanently have intensified as ScotRail revealed one in five passengers have abandoned Scotland’s trains.
A UK government source told The Times that “a generation of passengers will just write off the railways” if the strikes continued.
The source said: “We’re talking about permanent scarring. The longer the strikes continue, the greater the risk.”
David Simpson, ScotRail’s operations director, echoed this warning and urged Network Rail to get together with unions “to find a resolution so we can get on with the job of restoring confidence in the railway and winning back those passengers”.
ScotRail is currently operating at 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and Simpson said strikes were hampering efforts to make services more reliable.
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“The last few weeks and months have been very difficult for passengers because of these strikes,” he said. “They don’t involve ScotRail staff but they do affect ScotRail customers and have done for some time.
“We have been working hard to rebuild confidence in rail and bring passengers back after the pandemic, and this is just making our job more challenging.”
Simpson said: “We are hearing that, understandably, people’s confidence has been knocked and they will choose other modes of travel . . . we do recognise that there is a need to change in some ways how we work.
“We achieved that in ScotRail with the pay deals last year with the RMT and Aslef very effectively, and that has got to be the model moving forward.
“We need to reflect what the industry looks like post-pandemic, like other industries, and work hard to rebuild passenger confidence.”
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Simpson admitted rail industry conditions were “very much dictated by government policy” so a resolution would require UK ministerial intervention.
He said: “The industry needs to lead this but the industry does need the support of government to get a resolution.
“That has always been the case given the amount of taxpayer funds the industry consumes to provide a public service.”
Simpson said cancelled trains were “not the start to the new year anyone would have wanted for customers”.
“The ongoing strike action is very disappointing indeed and the weather has thrown quite a few challenges at the railway over the last few days,” he told Good Morning Scotland, on BBC Radio Scotland.
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The West Coast Main Line between Glasgow and Carlisle will remain shut for repairs until Friday after flooding caused “significant damage” to an embankment.
The Met Office issued a yellow warning of rain for southern Scotland and parts of central Scotland, which lasted until Wednesday morning.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued flood alerts throughout most of the country, and a heightened flood warning on the River Earn in Tayside.
Strike action has reduced ScotRail’s service to 12 routes across the central belt, Fife and Borders operating between 7.30am and 6.30pm only, with reduced capacity until next week.
Simpson held out the prospect of some routes reopening at short notice this week, as Network Rail brings in relief staff, and urged passengers to check the ScotRail website.
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He said: “Our advice is only travel if necessary as capacity is lower than normal this week, including Saturday . . . here is opportunity for refunds where we are not able to provide a service.
“You are guaranteed part of your [season] ticket back if we cannot provide a service.”
Gordon Martin, Scotland regional organiser at the RMT rail union, accused the UK government and operators of “bad actions” in negotiations.
He told the BBC: “We thought we were getting close to a deal, but when we met the companies a few days later the UK government had insisted on amended documents.
“They included stuff the UK government know the RMT and our members cannot and will not accept, like driver-only operation, closing all booking offices UK wide and cutting the maintenance schedules in half.
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“That is dangerous as far as we are concerned and our members will not accept . . . ‘modernising maintenance’, as they laughably call it. You are running the risk of running trains down embankments and killing people.”
