MORE than 500 ScotRail train staff are set to stage three strikes over the next few weeks in a protest over plans to allow drivers to control train doors on the reopened Bathgate-Airdrie line. The announcement follows a ballot of RMT members in which four out of five voted in favour of walking out.

24-hour strikes have been announced for 20 February as well as 1 and 13 March. The first March strike, on a Monday, could theoretically affect sleeper services to London as well as Scottish trains, although ScotRail has already said it has contingency plans ready.

The dispute concerns the Class 334 units which will be cascaded from the Ayrshire Coast and Inverclyde lines to run the restored services between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Bathgate and Airdrie from December. The Alstom units are not equipped with conductors' door control panels, and ScotRail had announced that the second member of staff on each train would perform the role of a ticket examiner.

But the RMT is insisting that there are full conductor-guards on the trains. The union's general secretary Bob Crow said: “This overwhelming vote shows just how angry RMT members are that a company that gave its shareholders £18 million last year is prepared to reduce safety standards for the sake of just £300,000. Anyone in doubt of the crucial role played by guards need only read FirstGroup’s own rigorous training manual – and railway workers know from bitter experience that properly trained guards save lives. This is the thin end of the wedge.”

Although ticket examiners earn about £5,000 a year less than conductors, ScotRail has maintained that the savings will be made by the Scottish Government rather than First, which it says should mean more public money will be available for other rail projects. The company also pointed out that converting the Class 334s to meet the union's demands would cost £1.4 million.

A spokesman for ScotRail branded the vote for strikes as ‘disappointing’, adding: “The services will be no different from those which have run in Scotland for more than 25 years – and will create 130 new jobs and offer major benefits to passengers. No one is losing their job and current terms and conditions are guaranteed. But the scheduled reopening of the £300 million link is now put at risk by a union campaign which boils down to who opens and shuts doors on trains.”

The RMT has also become divided from ASLEF on the issue, whose Executive has voted to accept ScotRail‘s plans for the line.

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