ScotRail to bring back full timetable next week

The company said that with a pay deal agreed and drivers once again willing to work overtime, it could now provide the service that was in operation before the temporary timetable was introduced on July 10.

The announcement comes a day after the return of peak fares to Scotland’s railways, meaning the cost of some journeys virtually doubled, following the Scottish Government’s decision to stop the trial “off-peak all day” scheme.

Services will return to the full timetable from Monday October 7 | NW

ScotRail said it was recruiting 160 new drivers every year to reduce its reliance on overtime working – the biggest driver recruitment in Britain. Since ScotRail entered public ownership in April 2022, more than 250 drivers have been recruited.

ScotRail also recently launched new ticket offers to reward those customers who travel most often with ScotRail, including an extra 20 per cent off season tickets for the next 12 months – delivering savings of almost 40 per cent on some routes – and 12 Flexipass tickets for the price of 10, giving customers around one third off.

ScotRail service delivery director Mark Ilderton said: "We are delighted to confirm that our full timetable will return on Monday. We have been working round the clock to deliver this in a very short space of time because we know how important a full service is to our customers.

"It’s been a difficult few months for our customers and staff, and we thank everybody for their patience.

"With a pay deal agreed and the full timetable back in place, everyone at ScotRail is focused on delivering a safe, reliable, and green service for our customers."

The task of restoring the full timetable has involved assessing driver availability at all depots across the network, creating new train crew rosters and giving staff sufficient notice, as well as ensuring all trains and carriages are at the correct depots at the correct times and updating the website and app with the correct information.