Pressure on Scotrail as ‘passengers faint’ inside packed train
● Pregnant woman also falls ill after peak-time Borders services cancelled
A pregnant women became ill and two other passengers passed out as a result of overcrowding on the Borders Railway yesterday, MSPS were told.
Two earlier cancellations were behind the overcrowding, which prompted renewed criticism of operator Abellio Scotrail and its embattled managing director, Alex Hynes.
MSPS are now calling for passengers who are forced to stand during journeys to get reduced fares.
It has also emerged that the number of passengers claiming refunds for delayed Scotrail trains has risen sharply in the past nine months.
Local MSP Christine Grahame, who represents the Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency, hit out at “failures” on the Borders line during First Ministers Questions at Holyrood yesterday.
She said: “Just today there were two peak-time cancellations and as a result of overcrowding on later trains, two people fainted – one even requiring medical assistance.
“And there was also a pregnant woman made ill.”
She added: “For Alex Hynes to claim in committee last week that customers are already benefiting from improving service delivery, he needs to get out and about on the Borders trains to hear what my constituents think of his improvements.”
Former Labour leader Kezia Dugdale later called for travellers to receive fare discounts if they are forced to stand throughout journeys, but this was dismissed by transport secretary Michael Matheson.
Scotrail fails to capture the full picture on overcrowding, the Lothians MSP claimed, because trains that are “poorly planned from the start” are not recorded. This includes those to and from the Borders and East Lothian into Edinburgh, where commuters face regular delays, cancellations and overcrowded trains.
Ms Dugdale said: “The transport minister must instruct Transport
Scotland to properly count overcrowding as day after day passengers face being packed on to services like sardines with no solutions in sight.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told MSPS yesterday that such overcrowding levels do not reflect the service levels which the government and taxpayers are paying for.
The cancellations yesterday were as a result of a train which failed earlier that morning.
Ms Sturgeon added: “I will reinforce to Mr Hynes and his colleagues the critical nature of providing a service which passengers can rely on and feel safe and comfortable to use.
“Improvements across Scotrail’s services have been patchy with passengers in the east of the country continuing to be let down by Scotrail.”
Transportsecretarymichael Matheson met senior figures from Abellio this week to underline the need for improvement, Ms Sturgeon added.
“I said a couple of weeks ago in this chamber that Scotrail is in the last chance saloon and I repeat that today. They must meet the commitment contained in the performance remedial agreement that they have now signed up to.”
The Scottish Government issued Scotrail with a remedial notice at the end of last year and the operator pledged to improve performance.
But 110,661 claims were made by disgruntled passengers over late trains between April and December of last year, figures from Labour showed. This is up from 72,984 for the full 2017-18 period.
Passengers who have been delayed by 30 minutes or more can claim some or all or their fare back under Scotrail’s Delay Repay scheme.
Labour’s transport spokesman Colin Smyth said: “These figures underline the chaos and misery faced by rail passengers across the country.
“Behind these thousands of claims are individuals having to miss job interviews, medical appointments and time with their family after a hard day’s work.”
A Scotrail spokesman said: “We are absolutely committed to providing the best possible service for our customers and our Delay Repay guarantee is at heart of that approach.
“We know how much of an inconvenience it is to customers when things don’t go to plan and it is only right that they are compensated when that happens.
“The Delay Repay system is easy to use and we regularly remind our customers to claim for compensation if their journey is delayed by 30 minutes or more.
“While it has been a challenging time for Scotland’s railway, things are improving and more trains are arriving on time than ever before.
“Everyone at the Scotrail Alliance is working flat out to provide customers with the service they expect and deserve.”