Train passengers in Helensburgh are being let down by ScotRail, MSP Jackie Baillie has said, after it was revealed that almost 6,000 scheduled train services have been cancelled in the last two years.
Her comments came as commuters were warned to ‘expect significant disruption’ during the latest round of strike action by RMT members of Network Rail.
There will be no trains at all from Gourock or on the West Highland Line from December 13-17 – although there will be two trains an hour from Helensburgh Central, there will be no service on that line after 6.30pm.
A Freedom of Information request by Ms Baillie showed an average of 250 services being cancelled each month across Dumbarton, Balloch and Helensburgh.
Most of the cancellations (887) were classified as being down to ‘drivers’ while the second highest reason for cancellations (502) was points failures.
In a response earlier this year to Jackie Baillie, ScotRail advised that they were facing difficulties filling driver vacancies within the area with the MSP asking them to embark on a recruitment campaign to boost numbers and improve the reliability of services.
The Dumbarton constituency MSP said: “My constituents are completely fed up with the poor rail service they have endured over the years and this is a problem which has been going on long before the pandemic.
“I have written countless letters to ScotRail over a number of years because of the problems encountered on the lines passing through Dumbarton and Helensburgh.
“Long-suffering passengers have endured station skipping, crammed carriages and short-notice cancellations and continue to be let down with almost 6,000 cancellations in the last two years alone.
“I understand that some technical issues may be beyond the control of ScotRail but I asked them to look at taking action to recruit more drivers earlier this year and disappointingly I have seen no evidence of a robust recruitment campaign since.
“There has now been a greater return to work and, in turn, to the railways and that needs to be matched with a reliable service from ScotRail and its owners the Scottish Government. The staff work very hard and deserve the government’s support.”
Phil Campbell, ScotRail head of customer operations, said: “Everyone across Scotland’s railway works tirelessly to deliver a safe, reliable, and robust service for our customers.
“We understand and share the frustration of our customers when things do not go to plan, so we’ll continue to work flat out to deliver the service they expect and deserve.
“We’re still very much in a period of recovery from the pandemic, and it continues to have an impact on the services we’re able to deliver.
“Our customers have also been impacted by widespread disruption across the whole of the Great Britain rail network caused by strike action, which has been particularly frustrating as ScotRail staff have not been involved in the vast majority of these strikes.”
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