Daytrippers publicly shamed by rail firm over group outing to Largs
Daytrippers who travelled to the seaside in a group of 30 in clear defiance of the lockdown were publicly shamed by the train company they travelled with.
Scottish Government guidelines say that only a maximum of eight people from two different households should be together at a time as part of phase one of the lockdown being eased off.
But horrified station staff witnessed a group nearly four times that number travelling to Largs, North Ayrshire, on Tuesday afternoon.
While railway staff have no powers to quiz passengers on their reasons for travel, the Scotrail Twitter account described the jaunt as ‘making a mockery of all the people who worked so hard to stop the spread of coronavirus’.
A post on Twitter read: “This is a special message for the group of 30 or so folk who travelled together by train for a trip to Largs beach this afternoon.
“You’re making a mockery of all the people who have worked so hard to stop the spread of coronavirus. Wise up.”
Asked whether the rail company had the power to eject the passengers, Scotrail responded: “We’re not the police and, quite frankly, our staff shouldn’t be put in that situation.
“We’re not the police, we do not have the powers to question every single person who wants to travel with us each day about their intentions.
“People need to take some responsibility for their own actions.”
The easing of lockdown restrictions in Scotland has caused concern over the possibility of a second wave on inection, as large groups began gathering despite the new measures only allowing groups of eight.
Police Scotland said there had been 1,391 “compliant dispersals” of groups of people over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with another 650 where groups broke up “after a police warning”.
And First Minister Nicola Surgeon said if “even a minority” continue to flout the rules she would not hesitate to make restrictions on group sizes and the distance people can travel from their homes into law in order to make sure the measures could be enforced by the police.