FOOTBALL fans travelling to the Scottish Cup Final have been warned of cancellations to train services because of a driver dispute involving nationalised ScotRail.
The train operator confirmed that services will be hit before it slashes services by nearly a third from next week - just three days after providing a half price offer in a bid to get passengers back on trains.
ScotRail says the temporary but indefinite move, which comes into play from May 23, has come as a result of the drivers pay dispute which has resulted in some refusing to take up the option of working rest days and Sundays.
The service is reliant on drivers working those days to keep trains running.
Aslef has confirmed it is planning a ballot for industrial action over pay.
The driver shortages have resulted in over 1000 train cancellations in the last 12 days.
Now the train operator is warning fans travelling to the Rangers v Hearts final at Hampden to plan their journeys in advance.
It said it would be adding extra carriages to as many trains as possible between Glasgow Central and Mount Florida, the closest station to Hampden Park.
But advised supporters to leave extra time for travel as "trains will be busy". And it admitted: "Some services may be cancelled due to a shortage of train drivers."
ScotRail said: "The train operator is reliant on drivers working overtime or on their rest days because of delays to training new drivers caused by the pandemic. This is something experienced by all operators across Britain.
"Following the drivers’ union Aslef announcing it would ballot for strike action, a significant number of drivers, but not all, have declined to make themselves available for overtime or rest day working.
"Fans travelling to the match on Saturday, 21 May, are being advised that queuing systems will be in place before and after the final whistle, which may include key stations across the network."
The train operator said it will have extra staff on the ground to assist customers, and reminded customers that the carrying and consumption of alcohol is prohibited on ScotRail services.
Phil Campbell, ScotRail head of customer operations, said: “We’ll be doing all we can to help football fans head to Hampden and see who lifts the final piece of silverware this season.
“We’re adding extra carriages to services to help customers get to the game; however, trains are expected to be very busy.
"Queuing systems will be in place before and after the match so please make sure you know where to go. We “A current shortage of train drivers means that some services across the ScotRail network may be cancelled, so fans travelling to the match should plan ahead and purchase their return train tickets in advance to help their journey go smoothly.”
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