Booze ban continues as part of move to prioritise women’s safety

Scotland’s new Transport Minister has signalled her desire to continue ScotRail’s ban on drinking alcohol on-board trains.

Jenny Gilruth also said her own experience of harassment on her daily commute from Fife to Edinburgh had inspired her decision to prioritise women’s safety.

ScotRail introduced a ban on drinking alcohol and carrying visible alcohol as part of its enhanced safety measures during the pandemic. But there have been a number of calls to make it a permanent feature.

Gilruth said that the alcohol ban is “still in place just now”, adding; “We’re keeping it under review. My own view is that it does probably keep people feeling more safe. I feel more safe with the ban in place.

“I used to get on the train at Cupar and come down to Edinburgh. And the guys getting off the rigs, drinking on the train, it could feel quite intimidating as a young teenager.

“I do think that alcohol consumption on the train can also have an impact on how staff feel. And we need to remember that railway staff were on the front line during the pandemic - they were going out to work every day when we were all at home. So, there’s something about giving back to them, too.”

Mick Hogg, an organiser for the RMT union in Scotland, said: “We’re delighted with the alcohol ban, and we want to see it continue. We don’t want to see a repeat of alcohol being reintroduced, because we believe the alcohol issue has created more problems than it’s seemed worth.”

It has been reported in recent weeks that ScotRail might consider introducing women-only carriages in order to combat sexual harassment on trains. Gilruth stressed that this was not an idea she had floated herself, but called for a “national conversation, a separate conversation, on women’s safety” on the railways.

“I remember catching the late train home from Edinburgh after a Christmas night out, before we went back into a level of lockdown, and having a guy come and sit really close to me - and feeling scared, and getting up and moving from him shouting at me,” she said.

“And I thought: if muggins here, a 37-year-old government minister who can look after myself, feels that way, then we need to really think about how we’re putting in place a level of protection for women.

“And actually, the unions have been really great on this, they’ve been really helpful. And one of the things that makes me feel safe is when I see the conductor.”