ScotRail services impacted on Wednesday following Network Rail RMT union strike

Commuters have been warned of major disruption across Scotland’s rail network on Wednesday following the first of three one-day strikes.

On Tuesday, Network Rail members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union began industrial action, which will continue on Thursday and Saturday of this week.

The action saw nine in ten ScotRail services cancelled, with trains operating on just five lines between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

However the strike action is also set to impact services on Wednesday due to a delay to the start of services, as signallers and control room staff did not work overnight shifts.

As a result, some services may not be able to return to normal until Wednesday afternoon.

ScotRail said that while large signalling centres at Yoker, west of Scotland and Edinburgh will be able to operate from 7.15am, this will not be the case at manual boxes elsewhere.

Routes outside of the central belt are likely to be most affected, with services between Dundee and Aberdeen and Dundee and Glasgow set to only have one train running on Wednesday.

Inverness to Glasgow will see just three services running in the afternoon, while Glasgow to Perth and Stirling services will have just one train each running in the evening.

ScotRail has advised passengers wishing to travel on Wednesday and Friday to look on its website for updated timetables as services will be more reduced than normal.

Some 40,000 members of the RMT union and 13 train operators walked out on Tuesday in a bitter dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Much of Britain had no passenger trains for the entire day, including most of Scotland and Wales and parts of England including the whole of Cornwall and Dorset.

Just a fifth of trains across the UK ran on the first strike day, and half of all lines were closed, with more cancellations and delays expected to continue this week.

Many passengers’ journeys took several hours longer than normal while those who chose to travel by car instead were met with large traffic queues.

Gordon Martin, RMT regional organiser for Scotland, said the strike is the last resort for members and said they were looking for a “meaningful offer” to resolve the dispute.

Nick King, a spokesman for Network Rail in Scotland, said a modernised railway could improve its pay offer for staff by passing on savings.

He told Good Morning Scotland the strike could be resolved if the union moved its position on working practices and any reduction in staff would take place on a voluntary basis.