Passengers not allowed to use new £100,000 shelter

WIND, rain, sleet and snow should have been weather conditions passengers on the Oban to Glasgow train could defeat – thanks to a £100,000 state- of-the-art shelter, erected last year, but to date no one has had access to use it.

ScotRail Alliance, the company which runs the town centre station in Oban, has admitted passengers have no access, and won’t be allowed onto the platform for the foreseeable future until works on the line are completed.

More than 600 passengers a day use the Oban to Glasgow train route – and in bad weather, or on dark nights, people can be found drying out in the ticket office or in the area between the platform and the locked metal gates.

Many more find themselves out in the cold. The shelter can accommodate more than 60 people.

Station staff who are regularly asked why the gates are locked preventing people from taking shelter point to managers in the city who make the decisions.

Oban Community Council said ScotRail Alliance’s position was ‘ridiculous’, suggesting the cost of the toughened plastic 15-metre shelter was in excess of £100,000.

Community councillors said it was ‘a disgrace’ that the shelter was going unused when up to 150 people who have come straight from the CalMac ferry to the train squeeze themselves onto two benches in the train station building and one bench under shelter for waits of up to two hours with heavy bags.

One community councillor reported that he had asked staff why it hadn’t been opened and he was told ‘ the platform was being secured while the train was being cleaned’.

The minutes of Oban Community Council’s transport group recorded its concerns at its last meeting.

The minutes read: ‘David [Gallant] reported that passengers are not being allowed to use the new shelter at Oban station and as a result they were getting soaking wet while waiting for trains.

‘This was because Oban station staff insist on keeping the gates locked until five minutes before train departure time.

‘Duncan [ Martin] estimated that the shelter cost around £100,000, was probably funded by public money through Transport Scotland, and the shelter could not be used because Oban station staff would not allow anyone to use it.’

At a meeting of Oban Community Council, members heard that, however wet or cold or exposed to the elements people were, the entrance to the platform was locked by staff and no- one was allowed to make use of the shelter.

Kate Winton, a wheelchair user, said: ‘It makes sense to let those of us who are in wheelchairs or infirm have access as early as possible to the shelter so we can be ready to board the train in plenty of time.’

Argyll and Bute Councillor Neil MacIntyre said: ‘It is easier to get into America than get into Oban station at times.’

A ScotRail Alliance spokesperson said: ‘Customer access to the platforms is restricted in order to allow our staff to promptly clean the train after the journey from Glasgow and place seat reservations before the return trip south.

‘As Oban is a terminus, trains require cleaning and seats reserving before the return journey to Glasgow. When this is complete, we re- open the platform to allow customers to board.

‘Ongoing construction work adjacent to the station is also limiting full access to the platform at present. When these are complete, we will review our access procedures.’

The privately- owned company refused to put a figure on the new shelter.