Passengers angry as trains skip stops in Drumchapel
TRAIN passengers are angry at a practice known as ‘stop skipping’ by ScotRail when trains are running late, according to an MSP
Anniesland MSP Bill Kidd raised the concerns of people in Drumchapel who wait for trains that do not stop but instead rush through the station.
Mr Kidd said the practice not only angers commuters and travellers but is damaging to the reputation of ScotRail and the ScotRail franchise.
He asked Transport Minister Humza Yousaf about it in the Scottish Parliament.
It is estimated about 20 trains a day across the ScotRail network skip scheduled stops. Earlier this year Mr Yousaf told rail bosses it was not good enough.
At the end of last year more than 10 trains a week at Drumchapel Station were not stopping when they were supposed to.
Mr Yousaf said the situation had improved and that figure was down to 10 over four weeks at the end of March, beginning of April.
Mr Yousaf said he wanted to see it brought down further.
He said one of the recommendations from Nick Donovan, the Transpennine Express managing director drafted in to review how matters can be improved, was a specific initiative detailing a series of steps to recover performance following disruption to services, and changes in operating policy to reduce the skipping of stops.
“I am pleased to advise the member that since the start of the year, the percentage of services running across the rail network that have been affected by the practice of stop-skipping has reduced from 1.1 per cent to 0.5%, and we expect that figure to reduce further in the coming months.”
Passengers are angry because it makes people late for work or they miss appointments.
Others are unable to get off at the stop because it is only decided to skip the stop after they have boarded.
Mr Kidd, an SNP MSP, said: “I asked that question to emphasise the damage Abellio is doing to its own reputation and, by extension, to the ScotRail franchise, due to this practice.
Mr Yousaf added: ““I think it is important, and I agree there is nothing more frustrating to the passenger or commuter than being on a train and seeing it whiz by its stop.
“It does reputational damage, and that is why the Donovan review is important.”