Train woes slammed by MSP who says he's trying and failing to get answers from SNP Government

Last week, Graham Simpson MSP approached the Cumbernauld News to raise the issue of cancellations, which were widespread even before a controversial reduced timetable came into play on Monday.

The irate Scottish Conservative said: “The SNP took over the running of our rail service on April Fool’s Day but Nat-Rail is no joke for Scotland’s passengers in Lanarkshire. A third of services have been cut, leaving towns with a significantly reduced service.

“This week I asked both the Transport Minister and Nicola Sturgeon to give a guarantee about when these cancellations will end but unsurprisingly neither could give me an answer.

“These cuts are devastating for thousands of local residents who rely on ScotRail’s trains to get to work, see family or attend personal appointments.

“Last month, the First Minister proclaimed that nationalising ScotRail was a ‘new beginning’ that would deliver ‘a railway for the nation’. Yet after just seven weeks, nationalisation is already proving a disaster. As with the ferries, as soon as this government steps into sort things out, the problems get even worse.”

Jenny Gilruth, Minister for Transport said: “I have been absolutely clear that the temporary cancellations, which have been made necessary by a pay dispute and the impact of Covid on driver training, are disruptive.

“It is also important to note that, while both regrettable and necessary, the temporary timetable gives passengers more certainty for the short term, rather than being faced with unplanned cancellations such as those experienced the last few weekends.

"ScotRail has also given me assurances it will continue the work already underway to not only train more drivers but recruit more too. Although more drivers currently work for ScotRail than in many previous years, the reliance on rest-day working must be reduced.”