Train passengers in Fife have welcomed the end to ScotRail’s much criticised ‘temporary timetable’.
The state-owned rail operator added around 700 services on Wednesday July 20 after more than eight weeks of changes that wrecked commutes, worsened congestion and damaged night time economies.
Passengers at Leuchars station in north east Fife gave the extra trains a cautious welcome.
But critics also highlighted ScotRail’s “May 2022 level of service” still means hundreds fewer trains than before the pandemic.
“That’s no way to run a railway,” said campaigner and St Andrews Lib Dem councillor Jane Ann Liston.
Abaan Zaidi is a teacher in Manchester. She uses the train to visit family in Newport-on-Tay.
I spoke to her before she boarded the 12.53 service from Leuchars to Edinburgh.
She said the temporary timetable had affected the way she engaged with train travel.
“If you go down to Edinburgh, and the last train [home] leaves at eight thirty then you do have to watch yourself. You were mindful of timings.”
She said she didn’t know that ScotRail had ended the temporary timetable.
“But knowing that now, it does mean travelling [on the train] is less stressful.”
ScotRail service cuts and UK-wide strikes collide
The company introduced the temporary timetable as the result of an industrial dispute with drivers’ trade union Aslef. This now appears to have been resolved.
The temporary cuts also coincided with UK-wide strikes in June linked to a separate industrial dispute between Network Rail and rail workers union RMT.
The union’s members plan a fourth UK-wide strike on Wednesday, July 27.
Abaan said the industrial action had forced her to change her travel plans.
“It’s something I want to see fixed, but workers also deserve to be paid properly.”
Consultant Michael Milne travels regularly between Edinburgh and Leuchars “to help his mum out”.
He added: “It’s incredibly frustrating with the train time table.
“Especially around the Open. I couldn’t believe there weren’t any extra trains put on for that.
“I couldn’t understand it.”
He said previous ScotRail operator Abellio “were terrible” but the service had not improved since nationalisation in March this year.
“They’ve obviously found out how much it costs to run a train service,” he added.
Tayside and Fife railways needs investment, not long term cuts
Campaigner Jane Ann said ScotRail had “jumped the gun” in announcing it was cutting services – both short term in the temporary timetable and more long term in the level of service currently operating.
“The trend has been fewer services. That is no way to run a railway. This is the kind of thing that we used to get in the days of Beeching.
Dr Richard Beeching was the British Railways Board chairman who closed thousands of miles of railway and stations in the 1960s.
ScotRail service delivery director David Simpson said train planning staff had been working “flat out” to restore services after the end to the Aslef dispute.
“I’d like to thank our customers for their patience through what has been a very challenging few months.
“We know how much people right across the country rely on rail travel, so we’re pleased to increase the number of services.
“Reaching such a positive resolution is a big step forward and everyone at ScotRail can now focus our efforts on providing the safest, greenest, and most reliable railway we can.”
Conversation