Scotrail industrial dispute resolved

An agreement has been reached between Scottish train operator ScotRail and members of the RMT union over the use of guards on new trains.

RMT members voted to accept the deal in a ballot by ten to one.

Under the new deal the operator agreed not to run services without a competent conductor on board, although the driver will now control the opening of the train doors.

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A similar dispute with Southern Rail could be resolved with a corresponding deal, the RMT has said.

General secretary Mick Cash said: “If it's good enough for Scotland, it's good enough for the South of England.

“The deal guarantees a guard on every new electrified train and that the conductor will retain their full competency including rules, track safety and evacuation.

“In addition, ScotRail confirm that trains operating these services will not run without a competent conductor onboard.

“The agreement has been reached after a campaign of industrial action and after intense negotiations and shows what can be achieved when management and unions get down to serious talks. That lesson should be a wake-up call to Southern Rail.”

When the deal was initially put to members Phil Verster, Managing Director of the ScotRail Alliance said: “Throughout this process we have always maintained that we would keep a second member of staff on board our trains to look after our customers.

“That is the way we work here in Scotland and there have never been any plans to change that. The question has been about what that second member of staff actually does.”

Scotrail is run by Dutch national railway company Abellio.