STRIKES on ScotRail are set to go ahead next week after talks with the RMT broke down. The union is opposing plans to use ticket examiners rather than conductors on the reopened Airdrie-Bathgate line from December, with drivers responsible for opening and closing the doors.

The union says there should be conductors controlling the doors, but ScotRail has pointed out that almost half its trains have driver-controlled doors already, and denies that there are any safety implications. It also says converting the Class 334 units destined for the route to provide a conductor's door panel would cost £1.4 million.

There have already been three strikes over the issue, although most trains ran, and ScotRail says that will be the case if next week's strikes do go ahead, on Monday and Wednesday.

ScotRail described the failure to reach agreement as a matter of ‘deep regret’.

ScotRail managing director Steve Montgomery said: “I welcomed the Acas meeting as a step in the right direction - but the only step taken by the union was backwards. Instead of conciliation, there was intransigence. It is extremely disappointing as our offer to involve Acas was made in an effort to examine every appropriate option for resolving the dispute.

“The new line will create 130 jobs and further strike action is unjustified, especially at a time when a number of businesses across the UK are announcing posts are being axed or threatened,” he continued.

ScotRail added that it had formally provided the RMT with ‘written guarantees aimed at allaying fears over the role of conductors, their job security and conditions of employment’, and that if the dispute was resolved, more conductor jobs will be created.

The RMT, which maintains that conductors are needed for safety reasons, said the Scottish Government was also to blame because it was ignoring existing agreements with the unions and also compensating ScotRail for any revenue lost because of the strikes. The union will be lobbying MSPs on 15 April at the Scottish Parliament.