Girls, 12, were trapped aboard train overnight

TWO 12-year-old girls were locked on a train overnight after falling asleep and missing their stop.

Amy Greenan and her friend were found ‘cold, tired and scared’ on board the ScotRail service at Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, on Saturday morning after getting trapped inside a carriage.

The pair were reported missing by their families after failing to return home on Friday evening and rail staff only realised they were inside the train after they waved down a passer-by.

Amy’s mother Bonnie Louise Greenan, 36, of Gartocharn, Dunbartonshire, wants to know why they were not discovered when the train stopped for the night.

The girls had been playing at a park near Balloch station after school on Friday afternoon when they decided to board a train to Glasgow without a ticket.

After missing the last service home to Balloch, they boarded a train that passed through nearby Dumbarton.

The girls told their parents they fell asleep and woke up inside the locked carriage at Helensburgh, which is several miles away from their homes.

Amy had a mobile phone with her but was unable to call for help because the battery was flat.

Miss Greenan admitted the girls had been ‘stupid’ but said they should have been spotted sooner. She said: ‘The girls shouldn’t have done it, but they are children and children do stupid things.

‘It was the worst night of my life – I was driving around looking for them and phoning. We finally got a call from a police sergeant to say they had been found. They were cold and hungry.

‘The station staff got them something to eat and called the police. The train must have been checked. Why weren’t they found?’

Miss Greenan said she did not think the girls had deliberately hidden inside the carriage. She added: ‘I’d like to know where on earth on a train there is to hide if they are supposed to check under every table, seat and toilet.

‘Amy was not allowed to go to Glasgow, she was supposed to be at the Balloch park beside the train station and she was not permitted to be out at that time.

‘She isn’t a wayward child either. Silly, yes, but not naughty.’

The worried mother had appealed for help on social media after the girls went missing. She wrote: ‘Please has anyone seen Amy? She’s 12 years old and missing along with another 12-year-old girl.

‘Bright happy girl, it’s completely out of character.

‘Was due to be picked up in Balloch with her friend for a sleepover, both phones dead from about 7.30pm. I just want her home safe and well, the police are out searching for her, but please, please help get her home.’

A British Transport Police spokesman said: ‘British Transport Police were informed on Saturday that two schoolgirls had spent the night on board a train in Helensburgh.

‘Officers have referred this to ScotRail staff.’

A ScotRail spokesman said: ‘An investigation into the incident, which included a review of CCTV, shows that our staff carried out two separate checks of the train and didn’t find the girls on either occasion.

‘We remind all customers that by law only essential journeys should be made at the moment due to lockdown rules.’

‘Why weren’t they found?’