IN LAST week’s column, I wrote about the latest on Scotland’s rail crisis and the Scottish Government’s failure to deliver change on the North Berwick line.

As the saying goes, “a week is a long time in politics”, and it looks like rail passengers in East Lothian can now finally hope for some relief from overcrowded services. This follows the news that ScotRail is trying to obtain longer carriages from its services south of the Border to use on the North Berwick line.

While it remains to be seen how quickly this can be delivered, or if it will be enough to solve the problems experienced by commuters here, at least it looks like something is being done. The company had previously insisted that nothing could be done to alleviate the problems before 2018 at the earliest, leaving rail users increasingly frustrated.

It is clear that this change of heart from ScotRail is largely a result of the political pressure that has built up over the last few months. In Parliament, I have worked with Labour colleagues to put the spotlight on the ongoing crisis facing rail services across Scotland. Part of the pressure was generated through my Rail Change campaign. Many local rail users supported that campaign by returning campaign postcards to the Transport Minister, informing him of their chaotic commuting experiences and demanding action.

However, I won’t be giving up on my campaign for a fare freeze. As I wrote in my last column, a fare freeze for 2017 would give loyal passengers a well-deserved break and save them some money on their fares next year. Nicola Sturgeon and her government are still considering the matter. I hope they make a decision soon and spread a little more festive cheer for rail users with a fare freeze from the start of next year.