Disabled Thurso woman's 'nightmare' journey on far north train

A disability campaigner from Thurso talked about the "nightmare trip" she endured while on a train journey to Aberdeen for her daughter's graduation last week.

Louise Smith is project officer with Caithness Disability Access Panel (CDAP) and was travelling in her wheelchair on-board the train from Thurso to Aberdeen via Inverness.

"Lockdown is often quoted as being responsible for a lot of the country’s ills, and once again we’ve seen it rearing its ugly head this week with regard to train travel between Caithness and Inverness," Louise told the paper.

"The trolley service, serving passengers drinks and snacks, has been disrupted for months meaning that travellers can often be trapped on the far north line services, and connecting services at Inverness, for hours without refreshment. However, on Thursday [November 24] a trolley was sighted on the 2pm Inverness to Thurso train."

Louise's main issue was with the outward leg of the journey from Thurso that left at 6.50am on Tuesday last week (November 22). "Going down, there was no trolley service all the way to Aberdeen and no access to refreshments. It’s been the same for months apparently.

"As well as there being no trolley service, a disabled passenger, along with several other travellers, was unable to alight at Nairn as the doors failed to open. These people had to travel on to Inverness and get another train back to Nairn adding a significant time to their journeys."

Returning to Thurso on Thursday, the CDAP campaigner said she experienced even more issues when she reached Inverness after travelling from Aberdeen. "Northern travellers are usually expected to be able to dash into the Inverness station toilets between trains.

"On Thursday, this was not possible as the toilets were closed for maintenance due to ‘back flow’. This was particularly pertinent for disabled travellers as there was no accessible toilet available and was compounded by the situation at [the station] café where a sign advised that toilets were not available inside and customers should use the ones on the concourse. Bad planning?"

Louise said she had travelled on the far north line during lockdown and that the trolley service was "non existent" at that time.

A Scotrail spokesperson explained how strict "essential travel only" guidance during the height of the pandemic led to a significant reduction in passenger numbers and revenue.

"For our on-train hospitality colleagues, this meant the suspension of on-board food and drink service and the deployment of staff to assist other areas of the business, such [as] focussing on touch-point cleaning on trains and in stations.

"Such was the uncertainty during the pandemic that many colleagues have now moved on to new permanent or fixed-terms roles within the railway, and all agency employees left the business."

The spokesperson says that the rail operator is now in the process of a "phased reintroduction of at-seat hospitality". Customers can find more information about this on ScotRail's website at: www.scotrail.co.uk/plan-your-journey/stations-and-facilities/on-train-catering

Regarding Louise's issue with the toilets at Inverness railway station, the spokesperson stated that the facilities are "operated by a third party contractor, and unfortunately, were closed due to a staff shortage".

Phil Campbell, ScotRail head of customer operations, said: “We’re sorry to customers that haven’t experienced the service they expect from us.

“We’re still very much in a period of recovery from the pandemic, and it continues to have an impact [on] the services we’re able to deliver. Everyone at ScotRail is focused on attracting more people back to the railway and delivering the service they expect and deserve.”

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