Passengers in the north-east face further disruption to train services as talks over strike continue

Rail users across the north-east have been faced with further disruption to services as talks to resolve a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions continue.

All services across the region were cancelled yesterday as rail workers staged the first out of three walkouts – with more strikes set to follow on Thursday and Saturday.

More than 40% of the trains today were also slashed as ScotRail introduced a significantly reduced timetable – with the last train from Aberdeen departing at 1.41pm.

The temporary timetable was brought in to give passengers assurances about what services would run and give them an opportunity to plan ahead.

However, occasional delays and last-minute cancellation still caused alarm among some commuters.

‘Travel only when necessary and plan ahead’

Louise Mair felt a bit concerned whether she is going to make it to London after her morning train to the capital was delayed with two hours.

The 48-year-old, who had to make the trip for a funeral, said: “I just found it a little bit confusing when I looked to book a ticket online last night – it said there would be trains every hour, but there are not.

“So I’ve been waiting for more than an hour to get to the train to London – and with that I keep thinking ‘Am I going to get there, am I not?’.

“It just limits your options because if you don’t catch that one train, you just won’t be able to go. And you can’t book a seat either, so who knows how packed it would be.

“I think the best thing to do right now is just travel only when necessary and be prepared for any situation.”

Margaret Mouat, 66, and her grandson Calvin, eight, were also faced with a two-hour delay to their trip to Edinburgh this morning.

However, the pair said they had expected this to be the case given the current situation and were prepared for some disruption.

Others like Sarah Thomson and her friends were “lucky” that their booked trains were not affected by the strike action at all.

The 44-year old, who was heading to London for the Glastonbury Festival, said: “There was a bit of a panic when we saw there might be no trains from Aberdeen to London, because we planned this trip three years ago.

“But gladly, our train is still in operation and I think we somehow managed to avoid most of the hassle. Hopefully, we won’t have to be chasing any trains, buses or emergency accommodation, but we’ll see what happens.”