A NEW temporary timetable for Sunday has seen 18 rail services axed between West Fife and Edinburgh.

There are normally 12 trains leaving the capital that stop in Dunfermline but from this weekend that will plummet to just five, with the last one at 6.55pm.

And Sunday services going from the newly crowned city to Edinburgh will fall from 11 to seven.

ScotRail said the move to revise schedules across the country was to provide "greater certainty and reliability" for passengers amid an ongoing pay dispute with drivers.

They've already introduced temporary timetables for Monday to Friday and Saturday and have now said what services will run on Sunday.

A significant number of drivers have declined to make themselves available for overtime or rest day working following the pay dispute, which has led to the cancellation of hundreds of trains.

The changes mean the first Fife Circle Sunday service from Edinburgh to Dunfermline will now be 10.59am instead of 9.55am.

There are only four more trains running, at 12.55pm, 2.55pm, 4.55pm and 6.55pm with seven services axed from this route.

The first train from Dunfermline to Edinburgh, 10.40am, is still in the schedule.

After the 11.40am train the service will be every two hours, with services at 1.40pm, 3.40pm, 5.40pm, 7.40pm and 9.40pm.

Four trains have been cancelled on this route.

Fife Circle Sunday services from Edinburgh to Dalgety Bay haven't been hit as hard, with a reduction from 14 services a day to 12.

The first train is still 9.15am. Effectively the last two services of the day have been cancelled, with the last train to the town now 8.15pm instead of 10.28pm.

The number of Sunday rail services from Dalgety Bay to Edinburgh have fallen from 16 to 11.

The first train is still 8.29am but the final three services have been axed. The last train is now 8.21pm, previously it was 11.30pm.

Due to staff shortages ScotRail has relied on drivers working overtime or on their rest days to keep services running.

In 2019, they committed to employing more drivers to phase out the reliance on this practice, however, the pandemic meant that driver training was significantly delayed.

The changes to the timetables follow an announcement by the drivers’ union Aslef that its executive committee has rejected ScotRail’s improved pay offer made last week.

David Simpson, ScotRail service delivery director, said: “We’re sorry to customers for the disruption on Sundays over recent weeks so this temporary timetable will provide greater certainty and reliability for customers.

“We’re incredibly disappointed and frustrated that Aslef bosses have rejected this improved pay offer. It’s astonishing that they will not even put this offer to their members.

“Our substantially improved pay offer reflects the cost-of-living challenges faced by families across the country, while balancing it against the need to provide value for the taxpayer.

“We have offered to meet Aslef but, in the meantime, would urge them to reconsider this offer in the interest of their members and the future of the railway in Scotland.

“We’re asking customers to check their journey on our website, mobile app, and through our social media channels as train times will have changed.”

Aslef Scottish organiser Kevin Lindsay said: "We have many different layers of democracy within the union and the national executive are train drivers elected by train drivers to make decisions on behalf of train drivers.

"So we did ask our members. We held a series of open meetings across Scotland and online where over 250 train drivers attended, and we only had one person saying this offer was acceptable."

He added: "They have asked us to attend talks on Monday and we will attend the talks on Monday.

"If we get an improved offer and acceptable offer there will be no strike action. It's as simple as that. The ball is clearly in ScotRail's corner."

You can view the temporary timetables at: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/timetable-update