I've spent a few days in Scotland since last week. My last trip was summer 2018. They seem to have lost all interest in running a decent service.
For starters, are there any class 318s with a working toilet? I didn't find one. With one exception, they were all locked out of use. The only open one had sewage almost to the top of the bowl. Undeterred I attempted to use the toilet but the lock handle pinged up after one or two seconds and the door opened automatically. Lovely!
Despite the reduced service, they seem to be short of HSTs every day. Some trains are worked by a single sweaty 158. All the HSTs have the first class locked out. Does the guard really need a whole coach to themselves? Why not tape off a few seats at the end?
Perhaps unsurprisingly the guards have zero interest in giving information during disruption. On Thursday there was a loss of signalling around Haymarket for around an hour. Trains could run normally eastbound on platform 1 but everything else was at a standstill. Eventually 2J85 turned up on platform 4 (1307 off Haymarket to Glasgow via Cumbernauld) and sat there for 18 minutes. The platform screen said 1320 to Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk "cancelled." Doors opened, lots of people got on, not a word from the guard during the 18 minutes. I only found out which train it was by looking at opentraintimes.com. Off it went and proceeded to call at Linlithgow, Polmont, Falkirk High and Croy. At Croy, people for Cumbernauld started to realise what was going on and began getting off one by one. Every time the guard tried to dispatch the train someone else jumped off!
Later on there was a signal fault at Lenzie. The 1639 Queen Street to Aberdeen was stuck waiting to depart. The best the guard could come up with was that we were waiting for the signal to clear. Doesn't really wash for 32 minutes when other trains are departing.
On Friday the 1239 Glasgow to Aberdeen ended up 35 late owing to various problems en route. Some passengers wanted the 1525 from Aberdeen to Inverness. The guard told them that they'd have to wait for the 1725! I guess Scotrail doesn't do road transport then? I was aiming for the 1538 HST back up from Aberdeen. So I bailed off at Stonehaven for the 158 to Montrose to pick it up there. In the event, the driver or the guard off the 1239 must have worked the 1538 because it departed 26 late. Then Scotrail came up with the brilliant plan to miss out Montrose and Arbroath. This seemingly gained the train nothing but condemned anyone going beyond Dundee to a two hour delay.
For starters, are there any class 318s with a working toilet? I didn't find one. With one exception, they were all locked out of use. The only open one had sewage almost to the top of the bowl. Undeterred I attempted to use the toilet but the lock handle pinged up after one or two seconds and the door opened automatically. Lovely!
Despite the reduced service, they seem to be short of HSTs every day. Some trains are worked by a single sweaty 158. All the HSTs have the first class locked out. Does the guard really need a whole coach to themselves? Why not tape off a few seats at the end?
Perhaps unsurprisingly the guards have zero interest in giving information during disruption. On Thursday there was a loss of signalling around Haymarket for around an hour. Trains could run normally eastbound on platform 1 but everything else was at a standstill. Eventually 2J85 turned up on platform 4 (1307 off Haymarket to Glasgow via Cumbernauld) and sat there for 18 minutes. The platform screen said 1320 to Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk "cancelled." Doors opened, lots of people got on, not a word from the guard during the 18 minutes. I only found out which train it was by looking at opentraintimes.com. Off it went and proceeded to call at Linlithgow, Polmont, Falkirk High and Croy. At Croy, people for Cumbernauld started to realise what was going on and began getting off one by one. Every time the guard tried to dispatch the train someone else jumped off!
Later on there was a signal fault at Lenzie. The 1639 Queen Street to Aberdeen was stuck waiting to depart. The best the guard could come up with was that we were waiting for the signal to clear. Doesn't really wash for 32 minutes when other trains are departing.
On Friday the 1239 Glasgow to Aberdeen ended up 35 late owing to various problems en route. Some passengers wanted the 1525 from Aberdeen to Inverness. The guard told them that they'd have to wait for the 1725! I guess Scotrail doesn't do road transport then? I was aiming for the 1538 HST back up from Aberdeen. So I bailed off at Stonehaven for the 158 to Montrose to pick it up there. In the event, the driver or the guard off the 1239 must have worked the 1538 because it departed 26 late. Then Scotrail came up with the brilliant plan to miss out Montrose and Arbroath. This seemingly gained the train nothing but condemned anyone going beyond Dundee to a two hour delay.
