ABANDONED
■ Office unmanned ■ No fire alarms ■ Call for probe
Two traumatised traders this week told how they urged terrified passengers to run for their lives after Troon Train Station was “left to burn”.
Distraught hairdresser Claire McGhee and kiosk owner Pamela Main used their quick actions to evacuate rail commuters from the burning station.
Now union chiefs have called for an investigation into the station inferno.
Gutted Claire, 30, and 51-year-old Pamela said: “This has been the most traumatic week of our lives. We were abandoned in a station that was just left to burn.”
Two traumatised traders this week told how they urged terrified passengers to run for their lives after Troon Train Station Ticket Office was “unmanned” and “left to burn”.
Distraught hairdresser Claire McGhee and kiosk owner Pamela Main used their quick actions to evacuate rail commuters from the burning station.
Now union chiefs have called for an investigation into the station inferno.
The Post can reveal the horror the two non-railway staff had to endure as their businesses were destroyed in the fire.
Gutted Claire, 30, and 52-year-old Pamela can still “smell and taste” the inferno from which they fled for their lives on Saturday, July 17.
More than a week on from the blaze, Claire, who ran Claire’s Hair Station, and Pamela, owner of the station kiosk and Scran at the station, say they were “disgusted” with rail bosses who “abandoned” them.
The brave pair have spoken out after a week from hell in which they were left to pick up the pieces after their livelihoods were burnt to a crisp.
As the station this week reopens to the public, the traders have accused rail chiefs of a string of alleged safety failings at the station, including no fire/smoke alarms, no staff on one of the busiest days of the year and an ageing station left vulnerable to disaster.
Returning to the scene of the horror blaze, Pamela and Claire were visibly distraught as they spoke out about their ordeal. They told the Post: “This has been the most traumatic week of our lives. We were abandoned in a station that was just left to burn.”
Mum-of-one Claire said: “It was just terrifying to have to deal with, to return to the station again has brought it all back.
“We have been left with nothing after this fire, it is going to be incredibly difficult to bounce back, the pandemic was hard enough and now I am left with no business after nine years of work – gone.
“It is completely devastating – I still can’t believe it to this moment of what has happened. It is very traumatising.”
Pamela, who ran the kiosk at the station for 14 years, said: “I haven’t been able to sleep since it happened, I can still see the flames burning our businesses to the ground.
“It was a living nightmare, how quickly that building went up is something I’ll never forget.
“It was like something out of a movie, I can still smell and taste the smoke. We can’t stop replaying it in our heads. “It was horrifying.”
Rail bosses have again insisted to the Post that a manager and British Transport Police officer were on site for the ‘Safer Shores’ initiative at the time of the blaze.
It comes as railway workers’ union, RMT, called for an urgent probe into Troon’s station fire.
Pamela claimed: “There hasn’t been any staff at that station after 1pm for five months. Brian [station master] works in the mornings and the other member of staff is currently off sick.
“It is just disgusting it was up to us to deal with it and we have been left having to support each other through this.”
Pamela was approaching the end of a busy morning when Claire rushed over from her salon to raise the alarm.
Claire was first told of the flames at the back of the station whilst waiting on a client around 12.40pm.
Within minutes both owners were out on the platform screaming at shocked commuters to get out as smoke poured on to the platform.
Claire said: “When I first saw the fire I knew it was serious, I left everything behind. I just knew I had to get out of the building.
“I immediately phoned 999, I then went and shouted at everyone in the platform to get off.”
Pamela told how some stunned passengers were intent on boarding their train, with one person saying they had a job interview scheduled for 2pm in Glasgow. As firefighters arrived at the well-developed blaze, Pamela had to re-enter the building to guide them to the location of the source of the fire.
She said: “I was standing in my pinnie, the fire commander asked if they can get access into the back office without going through the front door.
“There was still no staff there. I showed them how to get into the building.
“The roof was up at that point, I got back on to the platform, there was a hatch going into the waiting room which we couldn’t get open. I said let me back into the shop and I can get the keys, I went to go into my shop to unlock my door and I was hit with thick black smoke – at that point the firefighter said you’re not going back in there.
“I got back to the end of the platform again – I had to take a deep breath and answer their questions. “I had to tell them to break in the waiting room doors, how many paces it was to the ticket office window. “I couldn’t help thinking it is not right that I would have to do that, why was it up to me to show them where to go. “But I stepped in because I would do anything to prevent our place of work from being destroyed. It was like our second home.”
The pair have now pulled out from returning to the station despite being offered a portacabin or space on platform 2.
Pamela added: “We will never return there, we will do everything we can to support each other. They have a duty of care to provide me with a safe building, they are my landlord. If platform 1 burnt to the ground how is platform 2 safe?
“What we have been through can Flashback Last week’s front page never be repeated, this has to raise questions around other stations, if they have fire alarms and appropriate staffing in place.”
Mick Lynch, general secretary for RMT, told the Post: “This is a significant and important development. It reinforces RMT’s demand for a full and transparent investigation that should include all safety measures in the event of a fire and for putting in place new measures that guarantee that these railway stations will be staffed in the future to help prevent a repeat of this shocking incident which has so clearly left a trail of devastation in its wake.”
A ScotRail spokesman this week again insisted that they had staff at the station along with British Transport Police to support the Safer Shores project and support commuters and the fire service during the blaze. They would not comment any further on the allegations made by the two traders.