Commuters on the Borders Railway received some encouraging news last night when Aslef, the  train driver’s union, announced that they will put a new 4.2% pay offer to members.

Official negotiations restarted on Thursday May 26 2022 between Aslef and ScotRail, with the union’s Scottish organiser, Kevin Lindsay, saying the new deal would be subject to a ballot by members.

As a result of the dispute, drivers refused to work on rest days or on Sundays, with ScotRail cutting more than 700 services last week.

This resulted in only 15 trains running between Tweedbank and Edinburgh Waverley each day instead of the usual 31 and the same in the opposite direction.

The first train leaving the Borders now departs at 6.50am instead of 5.49am which means the earliest that passengers can get into Edinburgh is 7.46am.

The last train of the day leaves Tweedbank at 8.19pm instead of 11.19pm and arrives at 9.18pm.

The first train to leave Edinburgh for the Borders is still at 6.10am, arriving at Tweedbank at 7.10pm.

The last train to leave Waverley departs at 9.43pm instead of 00.43am and arrives at 10.41pm.

Following the negotiations, Mr Lindsay said: “Aslef entered these talks in good faith.

“We have negotiated a pay offer of 4.2%, a three-year, no compulsory redundancy deal and a number of other improvements. These will now be put to our members for their consideration.”

David Simpson, the service delivery director at ScotRail, said: “This was a positive and encouraging meeting.

“We made a significantly improved pay offer to Aslef representatives, which was made in good faith following the concerns they have expressed over recent days. We’re pleased that Aslef will now put the offer to its 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.

“I look forward to hearing from the trade unions in the coming days. I’m hopeful we can resolve the current dispute and work together to encourage people back to the railway.”