Call for West Highland Line rail contract to be terminated

A CALL has been made for Abellio ScotRail to have its West Highland Line franchise contract terminated amid accusations it has failed to deliver on promises of more investment, leaving a service not fit for purpose when it comes to serving the passengers and communities of Lochaber.

The damning assessment of the Dutch-owned train operator came from the annual general meeting of Lochaber Transport Forum held in Fort William this week.

In his annual chairman’s report, Brian Murphy told members this year had seen little headway made on rail transport issues in particular.

And Mr Murphy reserved his strongest condemnation for the performance of Abellio ScotRail. ‘When the new rail franchise was awarded to Abellio, we were promised improved services, new rolling stock and integrated fares. We are still waiting,’ he stated.

‘At a meeting in Inverness on February 25, 2015, I asked the then chief executive officer if they had plans to introduce new services for the West Highland Line, given that there is sufficient slack in the timetable to allow this to happen. He replied they were very keen to look at that. In spite of repeated efforts to raise these and other issues, such as trains being cancelled because of a shortage of drivers, with ministers, Transport Scotland and Abellio, we are no further forward.

‘It’s my belief Abellio is failing to deliver and that the Transport Minister should look at terminating its contract.’

The forum agreed to write to Scottish Government Transport Minister Humza Yousaf, Economy Minister Keith Brown and all Highland MSPs asking that they intervene urgently.

After the meeting, Mr Murphy and Arthur Cowie, chairman of the Lochaber Disability Access Panel, who also sits on the Scottish Accessible Transport Alliance, and John Barnes, vice-president of the Friends of the West Highland Line, visited the Lochaber Times’ office in Fort William to underline their concerns.

‘We’re all fed up with the lack of action from Abellio ScotRail. They promised us all sorts of things when they took over the West Highland Line service but none of it has come to fruition,’ said Mr Murphy.

‘It’s why we call the West Highland Line the “Cinderella service”. There has been nothing like the investment the company has pumped into other parts of the network. Abellio ScotRail seems like it is just not interested in this part of Scotland.’

Mr Cowie said the forum was in no way criticising train drivers and other frontline staff who, he said, worked extremely hard. ‘If it wasn’t for those staff, I think the service would collapse altogether,’ he said.

Mr Cowie added: ‘We are constantly told the West Highland Line is one of the most iconic rail routes in the world, so how does it help attract tourists when there are so few services, frequent cancellations and poor quality of rolling stock?’

Responding to the criticism, a spokesperson for ScotRail Alliance – the joint working relationship between Abellio ScotRail and Network Rail Scotland – said: ‘We’re building the best railway this country has ever had – and that applies to all of Scotland.

‘Our £475 million train refurbishment programme will see 90 per cent of our fleet either new or refurbished and Class 158s operate the West Highland Line from December next year.

‘These fully refurbished trains will be more suited to these scenic routes with the seats aligned to the windows, air-conditioning and more toilets and luggage space.’