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A temporary train service has been introduced in a remote part of the Highlands, after locals who have no other access to public transport expressed fears they’d miss out on essential shopping trips and medical appointments.
The 5.37pm Fort WilliamGlasgow ScotRail service was temporarily removed from the timetable following a 90 per cent fall in the number of passengers using the train during the coronavirus pandemic.
The revised schedule is part of the train operator’s strategy to provide critical services during the Covid-19 pandemic, but in this part of Scotland, it meant customers from Corrour or Rannoch, who wanted to make an essential journey would not be able to get back the same day.
The train operator will now run a two-coach service on Mondays and Thursdays from Rannoch, departing at 9.05am, which will call at Corrour, Tulloch, Roy Bridge and Spean Bridge before arriving in Fort William around 10am.
The news has been welcomed by those who lobbied the train operator after they cut the original service.
‘We spoke up and ScotRail listened,’ said Jan Robinson, who runs the Loch Ossian Youth Hostel in Corrour.
‘This two-day-a-week train service will be a fantastic help to me and others in this rural community on the edge of Rannoch Moor.
‘We were worried we’d miss out on trips for essential shopping and some people have important medical appointments coming up that they might have had to cancel. The reinstated services are also a welcome safety net for workers on the Corrour Estate in case the private road is blocked or there are vehicle breakdowns.’
Hege Hernaes, secretary of West Highland Community Rail Partnership, added: ‘A single week’s response time is impressive for a large organisation like ScotRail and demonstrates their willingness to work flexibly and in liaison with lineside communities in this time of crisis.
‘The West Highland Community Rail Partnership and Lochaber Transport Forum are very grateful to the Fort William station team, ScotRail’s Business Development team and the train crews who responded so quickly and positively when asked to work the extra train.’
The new service will give customers an hour and a half to carry out any essential business before catching the 11.40am service home again. The service will operate every Monday and Thursday until the Caledonian Sleeper service between London and Fort William is reinstated.
Alister MacLennan, station team manager West Highlands said: ‘The last thing ScotRail wants to do is leave people stranded or vulnerable during this very difficult time.
‘Although we have a duty to run the rail network as efficiently as possible, we also have a responsibility to our customers in some of the remotest parts of Scotland.
‘We’re confident the timetable changes we’ve had to make are helping us provide a critical service for key workers, but we are also willing to look at reinstating certain services if it becomes clear they are vital to the community.’