Passengers face more misery
SCOTRAIL’S busiest route faces major overcrowding from February 26 when up to 12 trains lose carriages.
A delay in the arrival of new stock on the GlasgowEdinburgh line comes as the lease on four of their current trains expires.
It means peak-hour trains wil have three or four carrages instead of six for more than three weeks – amounting to 1500 fewer seats each day.
Scots Tory transport spokesman Jamie Greene said: “It is unbelievably poor planning and reflective of a catalogue of management oversights.”
A ScotRail spokesman said: “We are sorry for any inconvenience.” A FORMER ScotRail worker claims the company ruined his life by turning a blind eye to 10 years of assaults and verbal abuse by passengers.
Ewan Taylor, 42, says he was punched in the face, threatened with a knife and attacked by a gang of teenagers and was left with no choice but to leave his job when the abuse took its toll.
The ticket collector says he was not offered enough support by his employers after spiralling into depression and being signed off on sick leave.
Now he is struggling to get his life back on track after being left in financial difficulty.
Ewan said: “I was an ordinary guy who used to enjoy life.
“I’ve no confidence any more. I don’t go out much. I’m taking medication for depression and I can’t travel on a train. “It’s basically ruined my life.” Ewan, from Greenock, was attacked at work four times and says he faced daily verbal abuse.
He says he ended up with a skin infection after being rammed with a buggy but was forced to come back to work on crutches or end up with no pay.
He said: “Being threatened was a way of life. ScotRail have no support for staff with mental health issues. When I worked at Glasgow Central, a man came up and punched me then walked on the train casually eating his chips. I got £50 compensation but ScotRail will not ban passengers who assault staff.”
Ewan was moved to other stations and says he was threatened with a knife on the Ayr line. When working out of Gourock, he claims, a woman threw a cup of coffee over him when he asked her to move her wet dog from the seat. But the incident which would end his career came when he was attacked by four teenagers on an older train with no CCTV.
Ewan said: “I had to fight them off and get into the cab to safety. They landed a punch above my eye. They ripped seats, sprayed the train with a fire extinguisher and tried to punch the driver.
“I wished I’d never worked for ScotRail. They don’t look after their staff, they’re just interested in profit. Someone is going to get badly hurt.”
Ewan was signed off sick and later accepted an ill health deal to leave his job – but debts left him on the brink of bankruptcy.
ScotRail Alliance denied failing to offer support for staff facing mental health issues. A spokesman said: “We do all we can to ensure every employee who needs help gets help.”