The Scottish Conservatives are today calling on ScotRail to lay on extra trains to ensure service cuts don’t prevent the Tartan Army attending Scotland’s biggest World Cup match for more than 20 years.
The reduced timetable – introduced on the back of the driver shortage stemming from a pay dispute with unions – means that the last train from Glasgow to several other cities is too early for supporters going to the World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine on Wednesday June 1.
In fact, the final trains of the day to Perth, Dundee and Aberdeen all depart before the match kicks off at 7.45pm.
Even fans returning to Edinburgh will face a race against time to get from Hampden Park to Queen Street in time for the last train to Waverley at 10.15pm – and they will have no chance of making it should the play-off go to extra-time or penalties.
Shadow Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport Liam Kerr says the SNP Government – who took over control of ScotRail last month – must ensure fans attending the match are not left stranded in Glasgow.
He also called on Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth to step up efforts to resolve the dispute and prevent a summer of chaos for Scottish rail passengers.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport Liam Kerr MSP, said: “The play-off with Ukraine is Scotland’s most important World Cup clash since we last reached the tournament itself in 1998, so the SNP Government and ScotRail must ensure the tens of thousands of fans attending can get home that night.
“We know that much of the Tartan Army hail from our northern cities, so they need to be catered for appropriately. It’s completely unacceptable that the last trains to Aberdeen, Dundee and Perth leave before the match has even kicked off.
“Many of these supporters will have work the following morning, even assuming they can afford the expense of an overnight hotel stay in Glasgow.
“ScotRail simply must lay on additional, later services that night.
“But this match just highlights how absurd the new scaled-back timetable is.
“It’s imperative that Jenny Gilruth and her colleagues thrash out a resolution with the unions to ensure normal service on Scotland’s railways is resumed as soon as possible.
“Just seven weeks in, and the SNP’s nationalisation of ScotRail is proving disastrous for passengers, who are currently facing a summer of misery on Scotland’s trains.”
Notes
Times of the last trains from Glasgow Queen Street on Wednesday June 1 are as follows:
To Edinburgh: 22:15 link
To Dundee: 19:10 link
To Perth: 19:37 link
To Aberdeen: 18:41 link