DISRUPTION on the railways is set to continue for East Lothian residents this week, with two more days of strikes planned.

Railway workers are striking over pay and jobs cuts, with the first day of industrial action on Tuesday, and more following today (Thursday) and on Saturday.

In addition to ongoing strikes, a temporary timetable introduced by ScotRail last month has seen rail services slashed, with some of the latest trains from Edinburgh to North Berwick leaving the Capital at 7.40pm.

Paul McLennan, East Lothian MSP, said he was disappointed that there was no settlement in an ongoing dispute between the rail workers’ union RMT and UK Government through the rail operators.

He continued: “There are very few services running in Scotland, which impacts on the North Berwick local line as well as Dunbar local and cross-Border services.

“I would urge the UK Government to make a realistic pay offer.”

'Causing chaos'

Craig Hoy, South Scotland MSP, added: “Ongoing industrial action relating to rail workers’ pay is causing chaos for our communities, and my heart goes out to those who need find alternative ways of travel this week.

“The RMT need to follow in the footsteps of ASLEF by getting around the table with rail operators and Network Rail instead of punishing millions of people across the country.”

While Martin Whitfield, fellow South Scotland MSP, said: “No one wanted to see these strikes happen; not the unions, not the staff, not the public.

“Industrial action like this causes inconvenience for regular rail users and will also have a negative impact on visitors to the county if it continues. However, they’re entirely of the UK Government’s making.”

Councillor John McMillan, council cabinet spokesperson for environment, economic development and tourism, said: “While East Lothian has good public transport connections including by bus, we recognise commuters and visitors will experience disruption and longer than normal journeys this week, and we are monitoring the situation.

“We are of course keen to see a resolution and positive way forward at a national level.”