Health warning.
Before you read this column I advise you to sit down as shock can kill.
I know this will be utterly unbelievable to some, but last week I went on a train journey in Scotland and….. everything went exactly to plan.
There were no delays.
I was not in fear of my life from a carriage crammed so tightly that it was impossible to breathe.
There was working, easily accessible passenger wifi and there was even drinkable coffee available from the catering cart at a reasonable cost.
All in all, my train journey was a rather pleasant experience.
ScotRail had got it right.
There. I’ve said it.
But one swallow does not make a summer and, while there was much to recommend about my actual travel experience on this occasion, there were counterbalancing issues.
In total I visited three train stations during my trek up the east coast to Aberdeen and back.
And there were problems at each of them.
I was delighted at being able to start my journey at Broughty Ferry, a train station which features on too few timetables.
But my delight was tempered by a colleague who pointed out that the tickets I had purchased online had to be picked up in advance at different train station that actually had an electronic ticketing machine installed.
Alas, an email confirmation would not suffice.
Ticketing irritation dealt with (again thanks to a colleague) I let the train take the strain to Aberdeen.
My pleasure at the relaxing and uneventful journey was quickly dented upon arrival.
Instead of funnelling through to the impressive Union Square I followed the directions to the Trinity Centre.
It turned out to be an unpleasant experience, with the steeper-than-Everest access stairway to the centre accessed by a stinking, graffiti-ridden rat-run through the bowels of the station.
Everything else around it was modern and improved. Why on earth is this small thoroughfare in such a pitiful state?
Later in the day it was on to Arbroath.
Waiting for my connection, I decided to make use of the facilities.
I wish I hadn’t bothered.
In 2020, I had to seek out a member of staff and request the actual key for the external door to the gents toilet.
And while the latrines were clean enoug, the cubicle beyond would not have looked out of place in Trainspotting.
It was thoroughly dispiriting stuff.
It appears that even when the train operators get it right, somehow they conspire to get it wrong. What a shame.
Get in touch with your local office at Dundee or send a letter to The Courier at letter@thecourier.co.uk
