Around 15 train services have been cancelled on the Fife Circle line today (Monday) as ScotRail battles rising cases of Covid affecting staff availability. 

The train operator says they have been trying to space out the cancellations to minimise impact to customers as much as they can. 

Throughout the day the ScotRail website has shown 15 cancelled trains with staff illness stated as the reason for most of them.

The cancellations are impacting services across the country but especially on the central belt. 

A total of 118 trains were cancelled on Monday morning and a further 78 in the afternoon and evening - across Scotland. 

ScotRail has urged travellers to check their journeys in the run-up to Christmas.

Some level of disruption is expected over the coming weeks. 

 

David Ross, ScotRail Communications Director, said: “We’re sorry to our customers who are being inconvenienced as a result of an increase in the number of our staff self-isolating due to COVID.

“We are working flat out to run a safe and reliable railway in difficult circumstances."

As part of ScotRail's contingency planning, the company are looking at various timetable options in order to provide customers with some level of certainty should the number of COVID-related absences rise significantly.

They say the level of changes would be dependent on the severity and locality of cases, but we are planning extensively for all eventualities.

ScotRail is urging anyone travelling by rail to stay safe and continue to follow government guidance.

This includes maintaining good hand hygiene and wearing a face covering for the entirety of their journey, which includes on trains and in stations – both enclosed and open-air platforms.