CLACKMANNANSHIRE rail services are to be gutted as of next week with the number of Alloa-Glasgow trains to be halved.

ScotRail has announced that a "temporary timetable" will come into force on Monday, May 23, leading to a 50 per cent reduction in the frequency of services between the Wee County and Glasgow.

Furthermore, the last train from Glasgow to Alloa will now be at 7.49pm, three and a half hours earlier than the current 11.22pm service.

At the moment, a train to Glasgow from Alloa is available around every 30 minutes, beginning at 6.16am, then 6.45am, 7.15am and so on.

Trains from Glasgow to Alloa are available in the same intervals, beginning at 7.51am, then 8.18am and around every 30 minutes thereafter.

However, under the new schedule, there will only be services every 60 minutes. The first train from Alloa to Glasgow is at 6.45am and the next available service isn’t until 7.48am.

Trains from Glasgow back to Alloa are also only available once an hour.

A statement published on ScotRail’s website said: “We're aware how much recent disruption has been affecting our customers and believe introducing a temporary timetable will provide greater certainty and reliability for those travelling.

“We've been relying on drivers working overtime or on their rest days to run a normal timetable, as the pandemic meant that training new drivers was significantly delayed.

“Without Covid-19 and that impact on training, we would have trained around an extra 130 drivers today.

“Following an announcement by the drivers’ union ASLEF that it will ballot for industrial action over pay, a significant number of drivers have been declining to make themselves available for overtime or rest day working.

“This has resulted in the recent disruption and our need to introduce a temporary timetable going forward.

“We want to resolve this dispute with the trade unions and move forward together to provide the safest, greenest, and most reliable railway we can for Scotland.”

The temporary timetable only shows weekday schedules at the moment; however, the website states that Saturday and Sunday services will be “broadly similar”.

The Train Drivers union ASLEF has reiterated its call for ScotRail to return to immediate talks to end the growing crisis on Scotland's railways.

Kevin Lindsay, ASLEF’s Scottish Organiser, said: “ScotRail and the Scottish Government have handled this situation appallingly.

“Nicola Sturgeon has to recognise that the pay dispute can only be settled with a resumption of immediate talks.

“We need a fair pay deal and there must also be a clear and proactive plan to recruit more drivers.

“ASLEF stands ready to resume talks with the company anytime, anywhere, any place. We have said this from day one and today we repeat that call.

“Relying on drivers to work rest days is no way to run a 21st century railway.

“This situation will not be resolved if ScotRail fails to engage in meaningful talks.”

Speaking at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, May 19, Nicola Sturgeon said: “Scotrail has taken the decision to put in place a temporary timetable that has been made necessary by the decision of some drivers not to take up the option of overtime [on] Sunday and rest day working as part of a pay dispute.

“ScotRail considered that issue and, in consultation with Transport Focus which is the organisation that represents passengers, decided that a temporary timetable was preferable to unplanned cancellations.

“However, let me stress this point and let me make this point very strongly: It is vital to get the timetable back to normal as quickly as possible and I expect ScotRail to review the temporary arrangements regularly.”

The First Minister continued: “I want to see services get back to normal just as quickly as possible and the government will be doing everything we possibly can to bring about that outcome.

"It is disruptive, it's not acceptable, it must get back to normal as quickly as possible.

"That is why we must see all parties get around the table and negotiate a fair and affordable pay deal."

Visit scotrail.co.uk/timetable-update for more information on the changes to ScotRail services.