ScotRail and RMT in talks bid to avert rail strike

ScotRail staff voted overwhelmingly last month to take strike action

ScotRail managers and officials from the RMT union will meet on Saturday for talks to try to avert strike action which could affect Christmas services.

RMT staff are due to strike on 22 December and on Christmas Eve in a dispute triggered after a ticket collector was sacked.

In November, staff voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking action.

ScotRail has described the decision as "a clear attack on the travelling public" in the run-up to Christmas.

Meanwhile, the RMT has announced a third day of rail strikes before Christmas.

CrossCountry Trains services, which link Scotland with England on routes other than the west and east coast lines, will be hit by a 24-hour stoppage on 21 December.

It is in addition to the ScotRail strikes scheduled for the following day and for Christmas Eve.

The CrossCountry strike will include train managers, senior conductors and on-board catering staff.

CrossCountry, which covers routes from Penzance to Aberdeen, called the industrial action "regrettable".

The announcements follow what RMT general secretary Bob Crow described as "the total collapse of industrial relations across a whole raft of matters".