Extra train carriages at peak times on the Helensburgh line have been demanded by MSP Jackie Baillie.
Commuters once again faced disruption tonight, with ScotRail saying delays were caused by ‘congestion’ at Haymarket, while the 17.31 service to Helensburgh was reduced to three carriages.
The Dumbarton constituency MSP was contacted by a constituent who travelled on a rush hour train from Helensburgh Central, saying passengers were being forced to stand for the duration of the journey because of a lack of carriages.
That incident was on Wednesday December 12 – the next day, the exact problem was repeated and this time, a young woman was taken ill on the train.
The train had just three carriages despite it being a peak time service, leaving at 7.26am, which is used by lots of commuters.
Ms Baillie has written to ScotRail to highlight, stressing that thousands of additional naval personnel and their families are expected to move to the area meaning a significant increase in population and consequently additional passengers.
Jackie said: “Passengers are being asked to pay more and more for an unreliable train service and now they are being crammed in like sardines.
“It was so bad that one passenger took unwell on the train due to the excessive heat caused by the lack of space.”
“The Helensburgh train runs to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley meaning it is a vital service for commuters. It is clear that 3 carriages simply isn’t enough.”
A ScotRail spokesperson said several factors had caused trains to run with fewer carriages, including train maintenance, and the late arrival of the new Hitachi Class 385 and high-speed InterCity trains, as well as a dispute with the RMT trade union which has now been resolved.
He said that once the service has fully recovered from these problems every train during the peak on this route will run with six carriages.
“We’re sorry to our customers who have experienced disruption to their journey,” he said.
“We know that one of the biggest concerns is busy trains, and we’re working hard to deliver the level of service our customers expect.”
They never should have extended the Helensburgh trains to Edinburgh, the whole journey is slower than changing at Queen St and it means problems like today affect the west coast, while Edinbuggers are hit by a problem at Craigendoran
Arrived at Gourock from Glasgow to find that the ferry was cancelled. No information anywhere, either from the company or Strathclyde Passenger lot! Why no signs at Central Station, I do not do Twitter or Facebook on princilple(they are secondary information providers), and it should be the provider and co-ordinator who do this,!
The ferry came eventually after an hours wait.
Surely we can do better?
Third world Scotland?