Passengers using one of Scotland’s busiest commuter lines will be stuck with 38-year-old replacement trains for more than a year.
Earlier this month we revealed that commuters in Inverclyde were furious after modern rolling stock was removed so instructors could teach new drivers.
The replacements have been criticised as old and creaking with poor heating.
A lack of facilities including toilets, wi-fi and chargers on the carriages has left passengers feeling short-changed.
Now ScotRail have confirmed the modern trains they replaced will not be back on the line until May 2018.
Passengers have criticised the move which comes despite repeated pledges by operators to upgrade rolling
stock rather than replace it with older models.
One anonymous rail user, of Dunoon, Argyll, told how his wife is now struggling to use the route because of a lack of toilets.
He said: “There’s no toilets on these old trains. It’s a disgrace.
“My wife has a medical condition and, when she needs to go to the toilet, she needs to go immediately.
“If one of these older trains is on the platform, we wait for the next one.”
Daniel Parker, 36, of Port Glasgow, said: “Some people may have to use toilet facilities so these trains should have them.
“The one I got home from work the other day had rainwater coming in the window frame.
“I use the train to get to work in Paisley and it’s not cheap. I wonder if we’ll be getting a discount now we’re getting older trains?”
ScotRail say that each weekday nearly one in three (17 out of 55) Gourock-Glasgow services and almost half (nine out of 19) Wemyss Bay-Glasgow services now use the old trains, known as Class 314s
Built in York in 1979, they replaced newer Class 380 trains – built between 2009 and 2011 – which have been diverted to driver-training classes in the Edinburgh depots.
ScotRail said: “If all goes to plan, the class 380s will be returned to Inverclyde routes by May 2018.
“We’ve done everything we can to limit the impact on customers including, where possible, spacing out the 314s throughout the day.”
The move comes close to two years after then transport minister Derek Mackay promised a “revolution in rail services”.
ScotRail managing director Phil Verster said at the time: “This is a significant moment in our mission to transform Scotland’s railway.”
Dutch operator Abellio’s contract to run our trains started in April 2015.
We revealed last month that performance levels for the four weeks to December 10 have dipped below the point at which Abellio risk being stripped of their £7billion, 10-year contract.
Transport Minister Humza Yousaf has promised to closely monitor progress in improving rail services.
ScotRail plan to spend £475million over the next seven years on an improvement programme.
Overcrowding on a key route that is leaving passengers stranded at the platform is set to continue until next year.
MSP Alison Johnstone has her say
Commuters have been unable to board some peak-time services on the North Berwick to Edinburgh line because they are too full.
ScotRail will put on extra carriages for three months so drivers can be trained because electrification of the Glasgow to Edinburgh line is behind schedule.
But the longer trains will be moved to the Glasgow to Edinburgh line once it is ready and North Berwick commuters face waiting until next year for new trains.
Alison Johnstone, Scottish Green MSP for the Lothian region, wrote to ScotRail demanding action over the issue.
But ScotRail have refused to change their plans. Boss Perry Ramsey said in a letter: “We have consistently advised that it will be early 2018 before we have sufficient quantities of these carriages in service to provide longer trains on the North Berwick line.”
But Johnstone said yesterday: “People trying to commute between East Lothian and Edinburgh are at their wits’ end.
“I don’t think ScotRail understand the reality of the poor service, with people’s lives being disrupted by cramped services and trains they simply can’t board.
“Waiting till 2018 for longer trains is unacceptable.”
Campaign for change
The Sunday Mail is campaigning for a fairer deal for Scotland’s rail passengers.
If Abellio are to keep their £7billion contract to run ScotRail, they must vastly improve the service they provide. They say they’ll meet our demand to publish overcrowding figures, something that’s done in England and Wales.
But our campaign also calls for the Scottish Government to:
■ Ensure the company provide more trains
and passenger seats at peak times
■ Publish in full ScotRail’s performance improvement plan
■ Ensure some of Abellio’s profits are reinvested in improving the ScotRail service.
Contact us
Share your experiences by emailing us at smscotrail@sundaymail.co.uk or by tweeting @Sunday_Mail with the hashtag #smscotrail
