A LEADING Labour activist has called for Scotland’s railway services to be taken back by the people after accusing current operators Abellio of setting train travel on the Edinburgh to North Berwick line back 20 years.

Harry Cairney, former president of Prestonpans Labour Club and current president of the Scottish Co-operative Society, has launched a petition urging the Scottish Government to “take back Scotland’s railways”.

He said: “Since being awarded the franchise to run Scotland’s railways, Abellio have failed to deliver an acceptable level of service.

“We have returned to the position which existed some 15 to 20 years back, when commuters travelling to work were faced with tannoy announcements advising of last-minute cancellations or delays.

“We have seen overcrowding at times to dangerous levels, which would have catastrophic consequences in the case of an incident or accident involving any of these overcrowded carriages.

“Edinburgh-North Berwick is one line which has experienced this situation, and has resulted in commuters being left on the platform as another overcrowded train leaves them behind. Abellio Scotrail justify this by putting it down to the platforms not being long enough, when in truth it is the lack of rolling stock.

“I don’t believe it is beyond the wit of a proud Scottish Government to realise that our railways in Scotland are in turmoil. Abellio Scotrail have failed Scotland’s commuters and it is now time for our Government to take positive action by re-visiting the arrangements in place and the current franchise holder’s ability to run our railways.”

Mr Cairney’s petition calls on the Scottish Government to act now as a matter of urgency and it refers to a report produced in 2013 by the Co-operative Party along with rail union ASLEF, which called for a People’s Scotrail.

A spokesperson for ScotRail said: “Over the course of the next year or so we will be introducing new faster, longer, greener trains across central Scotland, with more seats and shorter journey times.

“In addition, we are refurbishing the majority of our fleet so that our customers benefit from services such as at-seat power points and enhanced WiFi – and we will continue to invest in new ticket offers, SMART ticketing and improving our stations.

“When all of this work is complete, Scotland’s railway transformation will be something of which we can all be proud. We would be happy to meet with Mr Cairney to discuss any issues he has.”

Mr Cairney’s petition can be found online at chn.ge/2abeSaf