Dumbarton and Alexandria commuters 'let down' by ScotRail, MSP claims

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Passengers in Dumbarton and Alexandria are being ‘let down’ by Scotrail it has been claimed, as new figures revealed that more than 6000 scheduled trains have been cancelled over the last two years.Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie hit out at the rail operator - which was taken into Scottish Government hands earlier this year - after a Freedom of Information request revealed the scale of the issues with trains locally.The new figures equate to an average of 250 services being cancelled each month across the area.Most of the cancellations (887) were classified as being down to ‘drivers’ while the second highest reason for cancellations (502) was points failures.In a response earlier this year to Jackie Baillie, Scotrail advised that they were facing difficulties filling driver vacancies within the area - with the MSP asking them to embark on a recruitment campaign to boost numbers and improve the reliability of services.Passengers have been impacted by strike action this year and are set to face more disruption with RMT members taking part in several dates of strike in the lead-up to Christmas and the early part of next year.The Labour member said: “My constituents across Dumbarton, Balloch and Helensburgh are completely fed up with the poor rail service they have endured over the years and this is a problem which has been going on long before the pandemic.“I have written countless letters to Scotrail over a number of years because of the problems encountered on the lines passing through Dumbarton and Helensburgh.“Long suffering passengers have endured station skipping, crammed carriages and short-notice cancellations and continue to be let down with almost 6000 cancellations in the last two years alone.“I understand that some