Repeated delays and cancellations on Helensburgh’s train service will be raised in the Scottish Parliament this week.
MSP Jackie Baillie says that over the past month, train services to and from the area have been delayed or cancelled on a regular basis.
Last week, train services were disrupted for five days in a row beginning with the delayed works to replace the Bonhill Road railway bridge.
The works over-ran which meant train services did not start in time for the Monday morning rush hour, forcing passengers to find alternative means of transport.
Train breakdowns, reduced numbers of carriages and ‘slippery rails’ caused problems for the rest of the week – on Thursday evening some commuters it took two hours for some commuters to get home to Helensburgh from Glasgow.
Ms Baillie says that some of her constituents had to cancel NHS appointments and some have struggled to explain to their employers why it has taken them up to three hours to get to their work in the morning, when they have been consistently late.
To make matters worse, the contingency planning has failed with insufficient buses acting as replacements and commuters not being able to use their tickets on First Bus services after Clydebank.
Ms Baillie said: “In the past month, the railway lines which serve my constituency have been disrupted almost daily. I have had countless numbers of emails, tweets and messages from constituents who have been left stranded at stations unable to get to and from work. Quite simply it is an appalling lack of service and Scotrail is failing local commuters.
“To make matters worse, the agreement that ScotRail has with First Bus only allows passengers to use train tickets on their buses east of Dalmuir.
“This means passengers from my constituency are paying twice for travel – once with their rail passes and a second time for a bus ticket when trains are cancelled.
“I have already raised the issue with ScotRail at their event in Parliament last week, but intend to raise it with the Cabinet Secretary in the chamber this week as the situation appears to be getting worse.
“It is simply ridiculous to expect people to pay more and more for their train travel at the same time that the service is so poor. The people of this area deserve better from ScotRail.”
A ScotRail spokesperson said: “The autumn and winter seasons present difficulties for the railway. This year has been no different with Storm Ali having an understandable impact on our performance.
“We will continue to work night and day to deliver the best service for our customers in Dumbarton, Helensburgh, the Vale of Leven and beyond.
“The ScotRail Alliance is investing billions in improved infrastructure and hundreds of millions of pounds on new and upgraded trains as we continue to do everything we can to improve performance.”
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