SCOTRAIL passengers lodged further complaints over overcrowding misery as train faults and continued staff training led to over 70 more train carriage cuts and some train cancellations across the network.
Some passengers complained that they were unable to get onto packed trains as issues with the services continued precisely a month after the winter timetable was launched.
Transport secretary Michael Matheson warned Dutch transport company Abellio, which runs the ScotRail service, could be stripped of the franchise if its performance does not improve while reporting that on Monday and Tuesday ScotRail had "appropriately trained crew for all services".
ScotRail increased compensation rates for its poor performance on Monday as a new winter timetable introduced in December 9 led to a host of cancellations and delayed services.
ScotRail had to cut the number of carriages on over 70 services across Scotland again on Wednesday - the main reason for passenger overcrowding.
While again passengers were told it was down to a "train fault" the train operator said the majority of the 'short formation' trains were down to "Intercity high-speed train availability". Two Intercity 125 Class 43 HSTs (high-speed trains) were still being used for staff training.
An issue with the buffers on one of its Class 380 electric trains, and a coupling issue with a Class 334 train, was an added factor on Tuesday and was still an issue on Wednesday.
"We have had to reshuffle the deck, to either cancel trains or run them with less carriages," said a ScotRail spokesman on Tuesday “We’re really sorry to customers for the disruption to services over the last few days and recent weeks. We know that one of the biggest concerns is busy trains, and we’re working hard to deliver the level of service our customers expect."
Most of the disruption that has hit Scots railways since the timetable launch in December 9 was due to ScotRail staff shortages, and the train operator said that is partly because many have been undergoing training on the new trains too late to be ready for the timetable launch.
ScotRail said that was partly caused by the late arrival of the new Hitachi Class 385 and high-speed InterCity trains.
The train operator says the lag in staff training was made worse as a result of RMT industrial action over a pay dispute that lasted several weeks, and was resolved over four weeks ago.
ScotRail said on Monday that they have "made progress" since the launch of the timetable having trained 70 drivers and conductors but added: "We know we need to do more."
But ScotRail still has to train up more than 20 drivers and conductors every day throughout January and February to return service to "levels [passengers] deserve".
Mr Matheson said that the railway operator was asked to submit a plan to address falling performance levels which if unsuccessful could result in a breach of contract which if then unremedied could result in Abellio losing the ScotRail franchise early. The operator has till to submit their plan by February 18.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here