Tourists and local residents travelling to Oban are enduring an unacceptable level of train service which is damaging Scotland's reputation as a tourism destination, it is claimed.
Scotland's rail network is getting back to normal after months of disruption due to the upgrading of the main tunnel at Glasgow's Queens Street Station, and weeks of industrial action by the RMT Union.
But the problem for many passengers heading to and from the North Argyll town, a highly popular tourist destination in itself and as a departure point for island ferry services, is not just getting a seat but actually getting on the train at all travellers say.
This has been highlighted by a recent letter to ScotRail's managing director Phil Verster, which has been copied to Scottish Transport minister Humza Yousaf, local MSPs and to the Herald.
Alan Raleigh, a retired businessman from Helensburgh had been on a sailing holiday with friends and they were returning home on Friday, when he encountered serious problems along with many tourists from abroad.
He grateful to ScotRail for the bus that was put on for passengers, which ended up dropping him at his house in Helensburgh.
But he tells Mr Verster: "Like my friend, I had also expected to travel on your 12:08 train today, but as you only had two carriages on this train, your guard would not allow myself and fifty other visitors to Oban join the train. Despite the heroic efforts of your ticket master at the station, I have a feeling that perhaps the tourists from many nations who suffered this fiasco would not feel they had been treated as generously as as our party. In particular, the Australians who will have missed their flight from Glasgow airport seemed unreasonably unhappy - I mean, why should they get upset that the driver of our replacement bus could not take them all the way to Queen Street without a forty-five minute rest break and instead offered to take them to Helensburgh Central train station to continue their journey? "
He said around 30 European teenagers ran to catch a bus operated by West Coast Travel instead of trusting ScotRail to get them to Glasgow. Meanwhile the later 14:40 train from Glasgow was cancelled.
Mr Raleigh told the Herald "It is a complete joke. I ran a supply chain and know a little bit about supply and demand. It doesn't take a genius to work out there would be a lot of people returning from Oban on a Friday in August, Apparently this has been happening regularly. People come from all over the world to see Scotland, but when they are treated like this it leaves a sour taste in their mouth. It damages the economy. I also object as a taxpayer to this level of service. "
Mike Russell, SNP MSP for Argyll and Bute said the problem seemed that there was not sufficient capacity on the train in question. "It is annoying because it is simply an issue of managing resources. We were successful a few years ago getting the Oban service up to six a day, and I expect the company to make the resources available for these services."
He said he had already raised the issue ScotRail and Humza Yousaf.
A Scotrail spokeswoman said the train was the 12:11 Oban to Crianlarich service which always has two carriages. At Crianlarich it joins a four carriages train from Fort William.
However a bus was requested by Oban station staff because of the high number of passengers.
She said a rest break was standard practice for anyone involved in driving longer distances.
The 14:40 cancellation was due to a last minute train failure.
She said: “Delivering a reliable train service for customers across the country is of paramount importance. However, there are times when things don’t always run as they should. In these situations we do everything possible to help keep people on the move from organising replacement buses to providing taxis for individual journeys. Customer feedback during disruption is always gratefully received as it helps us identify where we can make further improvements when alternative travel options are put in place.”
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