Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Scotland fans told to beat train chaos and ‘get bus’ to Hampden
THE Dundee contingent of Scotland’s Tartan Army will have to get the bus to Glasgow if they want to see the crucial World Cup qualifier at Hampden – because the last train home leaves before the game has even kicked off.
Around 50,000 fans are expected to head to Hampden Park next Wednesday to watch Scotland take on Ukraine in their bid to reach the World Cup in Qatar.
But concerns have been raised over how the Tartan Army will get to and from the stadium while ScotRail slashes timetables in a pay dispute.
ScotRail announced the temporary timetable earlier this month in response to train drivers refusing to work on their rest days, as they had previously volunteered to do.
Train drivers’ union Aslef is balloting its members for further industrial action after rejecting a 2.2% pay offer.
The chaos is a major blow for the Scottish Government after bringing ScotRail under public ownership less than two months ago.
Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth is under pressure to put on extra services to ensure fans get to “the biggest game in 20 years”.
But in Holyrood yesterday, the Fife MSP said ScotRail has a plan in place for the match day and suggested fans should take a bus instead.
Around 700 fewer train services will be running on the day of the match because of the reduced timetable.
And on June 1, the last train to Dundee leaves
Glasgow Queen Street at 7.10pm – 35 minutes before the game at Hampden kicks off.
There are also fears surrounding the impact on the 150th Open at St Andrews later this summer.
In Parliament, Ms Gilruth said: “Many attendees will already have plans to make use of Scotland’s extensive bus services that serve key routes.
“It is important to remember why this dispute is happening.
“ScotRail has taken the decision to put in place a temporary timetable as part of a pay dispute of train drivers not to take up the option of Sunday and rest day working. Rest day working is entirely voluntary and this has been a feature of British railways for many, many years, entirely predating nationalisation last month.
“I do understand the concerns of supporters planning to attend the Scotland match against Ukraine, which is Scotland’s most important game in a long time.
“We really want to ensure that supporters can get both to and from the match on public transport, including using where possible our bus services across Scotland.”
Ms Gilruth also pointed out fans would still not be able to get home from Glasgow to Aberdeen under the old timetable, as the last train home at 9.40pm would still have been too early.
Earlier Ms Gilruth accused the RMT union of being disrespectful. Mick Hogg, Scottish regional organiser of the RMT, said the transport minister was “telling lies” when she said she wanted to see unions and ScotRail get round the table to negotiate.
Speaking to MSPs on a Holyrood committee in the morning, Ms Gilruth said: “I’ve got to say, in
terms of the respectful tone between government and trade unions, the use of that word, I don’t find particularly respectful.
“I don’t think it’s accurate either.
“I spent a lot of time at the start of my appointment with our trade union partners to try and being them into the conversation about the future of Scotland’s trains.”
Ms Gilruth said she spent “considerable” time with ScotRail on Friday and again on Monday to discuss the problems.
A ScotRail spokesman said the company would be issuing travel advice for the upcoming Scotland internationals in the lead up to the games.