No talks are scheduled between ScotRail and the train drivers union to resolve the current cuts to services across the country.

From Monday, May 23, around 700 services have been slashed over a pay dispute between the operator and Aslef.

Drivers are also refusing to make themselves available for overtime which has led to a third of daily services being halted.

A typical ScotRail driver salary is more than £50,000, with drivers being offered a 2.2% pay rise and the opportunity to take part in a revenue share agreement which would take the total package to 5%.

The offer has been rejected by the unions Aslef and RMT, which described it as "derisory".

The Scottish Government has said work is under way to recruit more train drivers and reliance on rest-day working must stop.

Aslef's Scottish organiser Kevin Lindsay confirmed there were no plans for talks between the union and ScotRail this week.

He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "I’m desperate to get round the negotiating table, but I can’t negotiate with myself.

"I need somebody from ScotRail or Transport Scotland to come along with the authority to make a deal so we can move forward because this is damaging Scotland’s economy.

"It’s damaging our cultural events, we really need some action on this to move this forward."

While David Simpson, Service Delivery Director at ScotRail, said the demands Aslef were making were "not sustainable".

He told the BBC: "We all share the wish to get around the table to find a way to compromise and to move forward and start returning the railway to normal."

Simpson was asked by host Gary Robertson when talks would take place.

Simpson replied: "We're going to work very hard this week to see if we can find a way to do that as soon as possible, and we'd urge the unions to do the same.

"We need to sit down and talk against the background where everyone is clear that we need to be compromised.

"The kind of demands of 10-11% are just not sustainable in the current economic climate of the railway.

"We need to find a way around that, we need to recognise the kind of demands that the unions are making, but also recognise the need to demonstrate taxpayer value and what the railway does.

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"I think the union's made very clear that they're not interested in talks until we can improve the offer.

"We think the offer we've made is a strong one is 2.2% on basic, plus 5% through the revenue share. We think that reflects the current economic position of the industry.

"Unless there's a willingness to come in and be flexible in terms of that, I think we struggle but we're keen to get around to table if Aslef are keen to do the same."

Simpson added: "I think we're always open to negotiation, we've made that very clear through these talks.

"All sides need to find a way to move this forward.

"We need to find a way to recognise the difficult financial position the industry has had after the pandemic, with a large gap between cost and revenue which the taxpayer is currently filling.

"We need to make sure that gap offers value for money against many other demands on taxpayer purse and move that forward that way."

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