SCOTRAIL has been accused of failing to listen to people in East Lothian after confirming longer trains expected to be introduced in the county will be taken away to serve the Edinburgh-Glasgow line as soon as it can use them.
The train operator is planning to introduce longer trains onto the North Berwick line from next month as part of a driver training programme.
However, hopes ScotRail could be persuaded to extend the use of the additional carriages to ease the regular problems on the busy rush-hour route have been dashed by the firm’s operations director Perry Ramsay.
In a letter to Scottish Greens MSP Alison Johnstone, Mr Ramsay said the company’s contract with Transport Scotland required it to put the longer electric trains on the main Edinburgh-Glasgow line as soon as it was electrified.
And he said that meant the longer electric trains which are coming to East Lothian would be required for the main line.
Mr Ramsay said: “It is a requirement of our contract with Transport Scotland that we operate electric trains on the Edinburgh to Glasgow via Falkirk route once electrification works have been completed. We still have to train our staff to operate electric trains and have developed a contingency of using the North Berwick route for this purpose.”
However, he added: “We could only do so until such time as the Edinburgh to Glasgow route is electrified.”
Ms Johnstone MSP said that ScotRail was not listening to people in East Lothian and called on the Scottish Government to insist the county’s packed passenger services were dealt with as soon as possible.
ScotRail has said longer trains have been ordered for the East Coast service but will not be available until next year.
They agreed the driver training as a temporary solution to the problem of packed trains at rush hour.
READ MORE: Commuters yet again turned away from busy train
Ms Johnstone said: “People trying to commute between East Lothian and Edinburgh are at their wits’ end. By proposing to test new longer trains on the North Berwick line, ScotRail will let people experience an appropriate service for a short while, before the much-needed additional coaches are moved across to the Edinburgh-Glasgow line.
“I don’t think ScotRail are listening. They don’t seem to understand the reality of the poor service at stations such as Musselburgh, Wallyford and Prestonpans, with people’s lives being disrupted by cramped services and trains they simply can’t board.
“The Scottish Government must insist that East Lothian is added to Scotrail’s 249-point improvement plan, as waiting till 2018 for longer trains is unacceptable. This Government’s interest in public transport is in question.”
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