A GOVERNMENT minister has stepped into a bitter bonus row which threatens to derail the opening night of T in the Park.
A GOVERNMENT minister has stepped into a bitter bonus row which threatens to derail the opening night of T in the Park.
Tens of thousands of revellers heading to Scotland's biggest music festival could end up stranded because of a 24-hour rail strike by signallers and maintenance crews.
The day-long stoppage by 400 workers on Friday, July 6 - the day the Arctic Monkeys are due to launch this year's festival - is expected to paralyse Scotland's rail network.
The crews are employed by track maintenance firm Network Rail, which refuses to pay out bonuses after the workers staged a day-long strike in March.
The strikers will be joined by hundreds of colleagues in the North of England who are involved in a separate row but also plan a 24-hour stoppage on the same day.
The action will not only bring Scotland's train services to a standstill but it is expected to disrupt the travel plans of 50,000 revellers who are due to flock to Balado, near Kinross, for T in the Park.
Roads leading to the festival site are traditionally congested. But there are real fears of prolonged gridlock if the rail dispute is not resolved with roads jammed with car and buses.
With little sign of a breakthrough, Scotland's Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson has intervened.
He's urged leaders of the Rail Maritime and Transport union and executives at Network Rail to negotiate a deal.
