Cancer sufferer’s anger over ‘bucket list’ rail trip
A Fife tourist with terminal cancer has slammed ScotRail after a ‘bucket list’ trip on the famous West Highland Line turned into a nightmare when trains were cancelled due to last week’s storm Ali.
Anthony Vercoe, 70, and his wife, Flora, travelled by train last Tuesday from their home in Burntisland.
The couple had been looking forward to taking the iconic rail journey from Fort William to Mallaig, including a crossing of the ‘Hogwart’s Express’ viaduct at Glenfinnan.
After staying overnight in Mallaig on Tuesday, the couple had been due to return to Fort William on the 4pm service last Wednesday, but Mr Vercoe felt unwell.
‘I wasn’t feeling too good so we decided to take an earlier train at 10.10am,’ he explained.
But when Mr and Mrs Vercoe arrived in Fort William, they discovered that their onward train to Glasgow had been cancelled due to disruption caused along the line by storm Ali.
‘The train company just abandoned us, basically, and we were left to get on with it and find our own way to Glasgow,’ said Mr Vercoe.
‘They gave us nothing at Fort William station – not even so much as a cup of tea. They didn’t even ask if any of the passengers had special needs before just dumping us back at Fort William.
‘They even said they could not refund us money and we’d have to fill in a form when we got home. They were absolutely useless. I got more sympathy from other passengers on the bus than I did from rail company staff.’
Mr Vercoe added that around half-a-dozen of the passengers that were bound for Oban had been put on to taxis by rail staff.
However, he said for the 40plus heading back to Glasgow, there was nothing apparently organised.
‘We were able to use our bus passes, but there were plenty of others who had to fork out money for tickets,’ he continued.
The couple arrived back home in Burntisland about 11pm after reaching Glasgow and then travelling to Edinburgh, again by bus, and then another bus and taxi home to Fife.
‘It made for a very long day when you’re not feeling great,’ Mr Vercoe said. ‘The train makes long journeys easier than buses because you’ve got a bit more space and can get up and stretch your legs a bit.’
Mr Vercoe told the Lochaber Times he had been told by his doctors that he might have less than a year left to live.
‘They say they can’t do anything else for me other than palliative care and that I don’t really have that long to live – maybe six or nine months, possibly a bit longer, they can’t be sure.
‘This was a ‘bucket list’ trip we’d been wanting to do for a while.
‘It is one of the world’s great rail journeys and the scenery was spectacular.
‘We’re just very disappointed it ended the way it did and we are now faced with filling in a massive form to try and claim a refund of some sort.’
Asked to comment on Mr Vercoe’s complaints, ScotRail said storm Ali had severely impacted the country’s railway infrastructure last Wednesday, with major line blockages – for example a number of trees fell on to the line and overheard wires were damaged.
A ScotRail spokesperson told the Lochaber Times: ‘We’re very sorry to hear about our customers’ experience during storm Ali, and we would invite them to contact our customer relations team so that we can help put things right.
‘Anyone who arrived 30 minutes or more late is entitled to compensation under our Delay Repay guarantee. To claim, simply keep hold of your ticket and visit our website.’