Quite as grand as it appears

Fort William at 1609. ScotRail seems to consider a delay of over six hours a minor inconvenience.

I believe this was not thought through, and doubt that ScotRail even asked Caledonian Sleeper. The latter accepts the Spirit of Scotland Travelpass, so why would it object to the Grand Tour?

Incidentally, I’ve also been told of other things not on ScotRail’s website: that the railcards it accepts include HM Forces; and that you can start the Tour anywhere - so useful for those in Inverness, for example. (The website says the Grand Tour is for travel from Edi b h Gl ) Thi l i

It’s so disappointing that ScotRail doesn’t explain the obvious in its terms & conditions. The first things any publicity should point out are whether tickets are valid on all operators, whether there are any time restrictions, and what railcards can be used. Yet ScotRail overlooks these entirely.

In fairness, it has now admitted it needs to change, and has promised that in future all these things will be shown clearly. I await changes to the website with interest.

Finally, in RAIL 829 I gave details of the new Cities of North of England Rover. A reader sent

th l fl t th t T P i E h f the price! If you want people to buy your goods, it’s really a good idea to tell them how much they cost.

I have written so much lately about low standards of publicity within the rail industry, and it depresses me. So often I have to end by saying “British Rail wouldn’t have tolerated it”, but it’s true.