Delays and cancellations have become ‘the new normal’ for train passengers, MSP Jackie Baillie said this week.
The Dumbarton constituency MSP called on ScotRail and the Scottish Government to provide a better rail service for passengers following the ongoing problems with trains experienced by people in Helensburgh, Dumbarton and Balloch.
Today (Friday) there were yet more cancellations on that line, with a signalling fault at Haymarket being blamed.
Train services in the area have been disrupted for weeks and passengers experienced 12 days of consistent disruption in the run-up to Halloween with delays and cancellations.
Passengers have been contacting Ms Baillie to voice their frustration as they have missed work, college and university, and even hospital appointments due to delayed and cancelled trains across the area.
While Scotrail has been putting on some replacement bus services, these do not begin to offer enough seats for the number of passengers who use the trains, while First Bus ticket acceptance only covers routes from Glasgow to Dalmuir. Passengers travelling to and from Dumbarton, Balloch and Helensburgh are having to pay out again to use the bus.
Ms Baillie raised the plight of local passengers in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday, using a debate on ferries to talk about the train service.
She has also launched a petition which can be accessed from her website, Facebook and Twitter.
Speaking following the debate in Parliament, Jackie said: “Constant delays and cancellations have become the new normal for passengers travelling to and from Dumbarton, Balloch and Helensburgh. That is simply unacceptable when prices are being hiked up at every opportunity.
“The Scottish Government has given ScotRail free rein and weakened the targets they need to meet. So instead of standing up for commuters they are letting ScotRail off the hook.
“Passengers deserve better than this. They need a service that they can rely on. I have launched a petition to demand improvements to local train services and I would welcome support from local commuters so we can make ScotRail sit up and listen.
“It is time that ScotRail and the Scottish Government took the problems with our rail services seriously and put passengers before profits.”
People from my area and across Scotland are experiencing unacceptable levels of delays in their train travel. This can’t go on any longer. @ScotRail and @scotgov must act urgently to improve the situation. Watch what I had to say on the poor service here: pic.twitter.com/khSliwuGJY
— Jackie Baillie (@jackiebmsp) November 2, 2018
Last week 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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