No end to rail chaos in sight as 100 trains cancelled
Union demands Abellio is stripped of franchise after eighth day of disarray
SCOTS who suffered the worst day of disruption to train services since the new winter timetable was introduced over a week ago have been given no hope of an early end to the chaos.
Travellers have now suffered an eighth day of railway disarray with around 100 services cancelled yesterday and a barrage of complaints about overcrowded trains and some stops being skipped.
It led to calls by the RMT union for the Dutch transport company Abellio to be stripped of the Scotrail franchise.
Most of the disruption has been due to staff shortages, and Scotrail says that is partly because employees have been undergoing training too late to be ready for the new winter timetable.
Scotrail, which is run by Abellio, also said the issues were due to the late arrival of the new Hitachi Class 385 and high-speed Intercity trains. This meant that training had to be “compressed into a very short space of time with day-to-day services cancelled”.
The train operator added that the RMT industrial action over a pay dispute that lasted several weeks was another factor in the company being behind with staff training.
Alex Hynes, managing director of the Scotrail Alliance, which is the partnership between Scotrail and railway infrastructure managers Network Rail Scotland, apologised to customers but warned that, while training is still not complete, “some disruption will remain”.
The number of services cancelled yesterday was the highest since the new timetable was introduced on December 9 and there were further complaints of overcrowding and stop skipping.
The RMT union said the situation facing travellers was “an absolute shambles”, adding that Scotrail was relying on members working overtime. RMT’S Scottish organiser Mick Hogg said the problems would only get worse.
“They simply don’t employ enough staff, and rely on existing staff to work overtime. It is an absolute shambles within Scotrail and Abellio should do the right thing and hand the keys
back because they are no longer fit to actually run the franchise on Scottish trains.
“They are trying to train staff [on the new timetable] and rely on other staff to do overtime.
“As far as the trade union is concerned we want to see Abellio hand the keys back because they are not fit to actually run a railway.
“They are an absolute disgrace, with rolling stock not fit for purpose, staff shortages and passengers forced to accept delays and cancellations.”
A series of services between Glasgow and Edinburgh, which have seen the introduction of the flagship new Class 385 electric trains, had to be cancelled due to the staffing issues.
A signalling fault at Perth also affected 12 services to Aberdeen and Inverness from Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Travellers again bombarded Scotrail with complaints through the operator’s social media channels.
David Brower said: “Someone high up in Scotrail needs to take responsibility for the chaos that they are causing. This is beyond a joke.”
Faults with the Class 385 trains last week, including issues with doors, communications and software, led to some cancellations between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Colin Smyth, the South Scotland MSP, has also written to the Scottish Government and Scotrail demanding answers to concerns about overcrowded trains on the Borders Railway.
Increasing numbers had already been complaining to Scotrail that any improvements from the timetable were coming at a cost to other travellers, with fares increasing by an average of 2.8 per cent next year.
At least one MSP, Mark Ruskell, who represents mid-scotland and Fife, is seeking urgent talks with the Transport Secretary Michael Matheson over the timetable problems. Mr Ruskell said serious overcrowding on services between Edinburgh and Dunblane had already led to fainting before the new timetable even began.
Scotrail had declared its flagship rail link between Edinburgh and Glasgow would see the fastest time cut to just 42 minutes – although yesterday that related to just one of more than 170 services running.
The train firm ordered 46 three-carriage and 24 four-carriage sets of the 385 trains from manufacturer Hitachi as part of its £475 million investment in rolling stock and they were due to all be running by early next year.