Second-class service for Borderers

The company said that sickness and holiday cover were also to blame as 12 services between Tweedbank and Edinburgh were cancelled on that day,

A spokesman for Scotrail said: “Unfortunately, we experienced train crew shortages across the network on Sunday.

“It’s worth noting that we need more crew to cover train timetables during the current Glasgow Queen Street tunnel timetable diversions and we have achieved this by efficient utilisation of existing staff resources.

“Sickness and holiday cover are also factors at the moment, but we are continuing our efforts to mitigate this.”

Passengers looking for a quick journey to the capital were understandably less than pleased as replacement buses were put on instead of the timetabled trains.

The spokesman added: “We worked hard to limit the impact on our customers by sourcing replacement buses and having extra staff at key locations to help our customers get to where they needed to be.

“We also took steps to give our customers as much notice as possible by posting general alerts on our website, social feeds and platform screens.

“We work round the clock to try and cover the timetable and encourage customers to check – and keep checking – their own journeys by using Journey Check or the ScotRail app before they travel.”

More rail chaos can be expected in the near future – including EU Referendum Day on June 23 – as guards are set to stage six 24-hour strikes in the coming weeks in a dispute over driver-only trains. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union are expected to walk out on June 21, 23 and 25 and on July 3, 10 and 17.