Scottish trains shunted away to England

A dozen trains used on north-east routes have been moved to England, it has emerged.

The vehicles will now serve passengers in northern England, a Sunday newspaper reported.

Scotrail had leased them from Porterbrook but once that contract lapsed, a fresh deal with the English operator was agreed.

The decision has caused uproar with union chiefs, who have accused Scotrail owners Abellio of failing to address overcrowding on services.

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, said the Dutch

“The train leasing system is most despicable”

company should have fought to retain the lease.

He said: “It’s no time for Scotland to be losing trains. The lease system of trains is one of the most despicable things about the great rail privatisation swindle.

“They are not owned by Network Rail or even the train operating companies but by private operating companies who just lease old trains, the very same ones that we used to own in public ownership, to the highest bidder, for rip-off rates.”

A spokesman from ScotRail Alliance, a partnership between Abellio and infrastructure owner Network Rail, said it was in the process of securing more trains to increase capacity.

Manuel Cortes