Train operator slammed for poor Highland services
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SCOTRAIL is in the firing line amid growing concerns over train services between the central belt and Inverness.
The railway operator has prompted fresh anger for running services so overcrowded one passenger has labelled them "cattle trains".
Last week campaigners also hit out over broken pledges to slash journey times and "empty promises" to boost capacity on the route by laying new track.
They said that the Scottish Government has failed to deliver on a pledge made a decade ago to reduce journey times between Inverness and the central belt by 35 minutes, with an average of just four minutes’ time-saving achieved, leaving the largely single-track line from Perth to Inverness "struggling to compete with the £3 billion upgrade of the parallel A9 road".
Ian Budd from rail campaign group Friends of the Far North Line said: "The Highland Main Line has been left in limbo for a very long time and it is key to the whole regional rail network.
"Slow journey times and an unreliable service between Perth and Inverness have a knock-on impact on connecting trains to the Far North Line, Kyle and Elgin, and discourage people from switching from car to train."
An Inverness pensioner fresh out of hospital and recovering from a hip operation contacted the Inverness Courier after her experience on a packed train from Perth to Inverness.
Heather Bell said she was forced to stand and eventually quit the train earlier this month, despite having pre-booked a seat.
She later slammed ScotRail for running "cattle trains".
Another passenger, Jessie Maclennan from Castle Heather, Inverness, encountered the same problem on Saturday’s packed-out 1036 Edinburgh-Inverness service. She accused ScotRail of having "complete disregard for their passengers".
"This is not an isolated incident but a regular occurrence on the Edinburgh train coming north as seemingly ScotRail does not have enough carriages for their train journeys at times and commuters in the central belt get priority when there is a shortage," she said.
"Surely ScotRail should have a statutory duty to provide seats for those passengers who have pre-booked and paid for tickets.
"That ScotRail is getting away with this complete disregard for what their passengers are having to put up with is a scandal."
Scottish Labour Highlands and Islands MSP David Stewart said he has received numerous reports of passengers unable to get seats on the route and, as Scottish Labour shadow minister for transport, said it was high-time the Scottish Government started investing properly in northern lines.
ScotRail claimed it is taking steps to reduce over-crowding by releasing fewer advance-type tickets on popular routes and said the problem was temporary because a replacement fleet of intercity trains promises to boost capacity on the route by up to 50 per cent by the end of next year, adding 2500 seats and cutting 10 minutes from journey times.
It said plans for four and five-carriage trains instead of the three-carriage services the Highlands currently has will ease the problem.
Mr Stewart said that "remains to be seen" but Inverness SNP MP Drew Hendry said: "In government the SNP are delivering an unprecedented investment in Highland transport, including a £20 million investment announced in June as part of over £57 million already earmarked for redesign work on the line, alongside its £3 billion investment on dualling the A9."
Mr Budd admitted northern rail travellers will notice a difference when the intercity trains come online, calling the difference between them and what they will replace "astronomical".
But he added: "Rail travellers are entitled to see the Scottish Government deliver on its manifesto promises and make the step-change improvements which Alex Salmond announced 10 years ago."
Passenger Heather Bell's story in full:
Heather Bell raised a complaint with the firm and the Scottish Government after she pre-booked a seat on the 14.51 service on August 3 only to find reservation tickets were not in the seat backs when she boarded.
The 67-year-old from North Kessock said that, as a result, she had to stand in a crammed doorway, stumbling about and almost falling over until she finally quit the train less than half-an-hour into her journey.
She said: "I had recently been in hospital for five days and I have also undergone a hip replacement operation, so I booked a seat on the train assuming I would at least have a reasonably comfortable journey.
"How naïve. All the reservation tickets had been removed. I had to stand in the doorway and I could hardly balance, I was leaning right onto my suitcase. I had to leave the train at Dunkeld; I just couldn’t continue my journey as I was feeling extremely unwell.
"Fortunately, a fellow passenger who was going to Dunkeld kindly helped me to his car and dropped me off at a hotel.
"I am not in the habit of getting into cars with strangers but anything was better than what ScotRail had to offer."
Ms Bell bashed out a furious email to rail bosses and the Scottish Parliament’s rural economy and connectivity committee from the lobby of the Perth Arms Hotel where the stranger dropped her as she waited for her partner to drive the almost 100-mile journey from Inverness to pick her up.
"That train ticket cost me £68 return, and for that I expect a seat at least – not a cattle train," she told them. "We were packed in like sardines. There are probably stricter rules regarding the transport of livestock."
She added: "There is an ever-growing discontent with your traveller-handling methods and you may think you have the monopoly on train travel, but with the burgeoning amount of extremely disgruntled people using social media etc you will be taken to task.
"I may be just one small, insignificant 67-year-old, frail in body at the moment, but not in mind. You had better take note and react with compassion."
Highlands and Islands MSP Edward Mountain, convener of the parliamentary committee, said the situation Ms Bell faced was "completely unacceptable" and pledged to fight her corner with railway bosses.
ScotRail blamed a seat reservation system error for the situation Ms Bell faced and said it would be in touch with her to "make things right".
