Scotland's train stations have been left eerily quiet as Network Rail strikes saw the majority of services axed this week.
A usually-bustling Central Station in Glasgow appeared nearly deserted on Tuesday, despite being one of the rare Scottish stations to have services running during the RMT strikes.
Only five routes are still being run within Scotland, with two trains per hour going between Glasgow Central and Hamilton/Larkhall, another two per hour on the line from the station to Lanark and one train per hour travelling between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh via Shotts.
READ MORE: What train services are running in Scotland this week?
Cross-border services have also been badly affected as around 40,000 Network Rail staff walked out over a pay dispute.
Picket lines were formed outside the major station, with another seen outside of the Network Rail Maintenance Delivery Unit and West of Scotland Signal Centre in Cowlairs, Glasgow.
Members of the RMT union, who are taking the industrial action on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, have faced "an aggressive agenda of cuts to jobs, conditions, pay and pensions".
ScotRail staff are not participating in the strike, but the train operator cannot run many services without Network Rail workers running signal boxes and maintaining the track.
Gordon Martin, RMT regional organiser for Scotland, said the strike is the last resort for members, and said the union is looking for a “meaningful offer” to resolve the dispute.
He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “This is not the first option, this is the last resort for our members.
“It’s a fight that we didn’t want, this is a defensive action by this trade union, but it will be until we get a reasonable settlement and the members have made that abundantly clear to me and others.
“This is a defensive measure by our members in defence of their jobs, their terms and conditions and, I would argue, the safety of the rail industry.”
Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson said the RMT is “militant” and needs to get back around the negotiating table.
He told the Good Morning Scotland programme: “What the RMT has to do is stop being so militant, and get back around the table and get the country moving again.”
Mr Simpson was asked why he called for Scottish Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth to get involved in the dispute between Aslef and ScotRail, but not her UK counterpart, Grant Shapps.
He said: “It’s different because it’s not just Network Rail.
“As I said earlier, there are 13 train companies involved. So it’s very, very complicated.”
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