Holyrood must step in over railway shambles

Dear Editor

Thank goodness the shambolic state of Scotland’s train service is finally getting national media attention.

The standard of service on offer hasn’t been great for a few years but during the past six months or so it has been almost farcically bad.

You’re much less likely to see a train on time than one that’s delayed, often with no explanation as to why it is running late.

And I’m not just talking about longdistance journeys, where delays – especially during the winter months – would maybe be more understandable.

I’m talking about trains just going from Airdrie to Glasgow and vice-versa and trains going through Airdrie to get to Edinburgh. And this is before a drop of snow has fallen.

There aren’t always staff selling tickets on the trains either and when you get off at the station there are often long queues of people stood waiting to buy tickets, which just adds time to your already delayed journey.

It’s high time the Scottish Government came in and took firm and decisive action and not just tell us about how Scotrail is going to try and do better.

Sadly, I fear all that will happen will be another hike in fares from Scotrail early in the new year and we’ll be paying even more for an even worse service.