Not even the Famous Five could solve the mystery of Scotland’s terrible trains

We live in grim rail times in Scotland.our premier longdistance routes are served by risible suburban stock. The Borders Railway was underbuilt in infrastructure. The odious practice of station-skipping has become an art form. Now passengers on the Edinburgh-glasgow line, on what should be one of the prime Intercity services anywhere in the UK, have to stand because there aren’t enough carriages to go round.

These could be plotlines worthy of Enid Blyton: Five Try To Find A Train, or The Secret Seven Save Us From Rail Doom. Such is their inaction, that I wonder if Abellio Scotrail and Transport Scotland and transport minister Humza Yousaf are stranded right now on Kirrin Island.

The snow quite apart, these are awful times to be a rail passenger. They have remained so for the last 29 years, ever since Dinky Toy trains replaced the real stuff in 1989. And now this fiasco over carriage shortages – and Mr Yousaf pleads that he didn’t have a crystal ball that could forecast this. Pull the other one please.

Problems with the incoming Hitachi-built 385s were seen months ago. It shouldn’t have been beyond the wit of Abellio Scotrail, Transport Scotland and Mr Yousaf to formulate action. To plead “shortage of trains” just doesn’t wash.

Mr Yousaf promises jam tomorrow with news that the first of the high-speed trains enters service in May. Yes, but when will these trains run in squadron service? Not till 2019 they won’t.

So here’s advance notice of another fiasco, though there’s still time to avoid it. I hear that the seats of the incoming 385s are as comfortable as sitting on cardboard. Is timeous action going to be taken?

Or will Abellio Scotrail, Transport Scotland and Mr Yousaf all act in a surprised manner when this next fiasco surfaces?

GORDON CASELY, Westerton Cottage Kincardineshire