I DON’T normally travel at peak times on our railway network but when I do it’s seldom a pleasant experience. As such, I can sympathise with those who have to commute daily (“Talks start on public bid to run ScotRail”, the Herald, November 21). Having said that, train travel in the rush hour was an arduous experience under British Rail, National Express and First, so it’s hardly a new phenomenon.
I have some sympathy with Abellio. Its foot is hardly in the door and already it’s being castigated for shortcomings which are in fact the product of decades of under-investment by both public and private sectors. It’s Abellio’s misfortune that it seems to be coming to a head now. At the very least Abellio seems to have a plan and recognises the need for additional roiling stock, which can’t be conjured up overnight by either public or private sector operators. The number of carriages available at any one time is a finite resource.
Put into context, the only diesel passenger units purchased for use in Scotland since privatisation are the three-car Class 170s, the type used on the Edinburgh-Glasgow service and on many other routes, introduced by National Express in the late 1990s. Everything else was bought by BR. There are more new electric units, the Class 334 and 380, but they can’t be used to alleviate congestion on the Glasgow-Edinburgh via Falkirk line or any line north of that, at least not yet.
The Class 170s seem to be excellent vehicles but in ScotRail service they suffer from not having end corridor connectors, which means that when two or more three-car sets are joined together it is impossible to move from one set to the other and better distribute the passenger load.
Abellio is suffering to an extent from lack of investment by FirstGroup, whch ran ScotRail from 2004 to 2015 with its signature business model of putting as little as possible in and getting as much as possible out, a philosophy more than familiar to its bus passengers.
Abellio is in many ways facing the perfect storm, and that’s its ill-fortune but it’s not its fault and I think it deserves the opportunity to deliver on its promises.
John Walker,
73 McLachlan Street, Stenhousemuir, Falkirk.
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