Sorry but your driver is on holiday
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A GROUP of irate passengers let off steam at Wick railway station on Sunday when their train driver failed to show up.
Despite ScotRail's claim that fares would be reimbursed, several of the travellers, numbering around 15, spoke about the "recurring issue" of staff cover and how they were astonished that the company had failed to replace a driver when "they knew full well he was on holiday".
"It's an absolute disgrace," said Theresa Coull, a councillor from Keith who was travelling with her husband Jim and their friends Charlie and Fiona Simpson.
The two couples had set off from Keith on Friday for the Wick Academy v Keith football match at Harmsworth Park the following day.
"We were not just coming for the match but also a testimonial dinner at the Norseman," she said. "We thought it would be nice to take it easy and travel up on the train but it's been anything but easy going," said Mrs Coull.
Charlie Simpson, the vice-president of Keith FC, joked that they could have all "taken the bus for nothing" with regard to their eligibility for free bus passes.
Mr Simpson said that a staff member had told them that there was no driver available due to "him being on holiday and nobody else being allocated for the shift".
"She said that ScotRail had eight drivers for that route but that there was no cover for this one guy being on holiday. They must have known about him being on holiday well in advance and could have sorted something out. I mean, seriously, it's not like they just realised about it this morning."
A ScotRail spokesperson said: "Due to a shortage of train crew, unfortunately the 11:56am Wick to Inverness was cancelled on Sunday, April 14. We organised replacement buses at both Wick and Thurso to take customers south to Inverness."
Mr Simpson said that "somebody's not doing their job right if they can't arrange cover for a driver being on holiday or a conductor being sick".
"We're bitterly disappointed as we were looking forward to a nice train ride to Wick as we'd never done it before. There were problems with the outward journey on Friday too," he said.
Both couples said the matter was made worse by the fact that on their journey north a conductor had gone sick and they had to vacate the Wick-bound train they had boarded at Inverness. A bus was allocated for them on that journey as well.
Mr Simpson said: "When I'm having my breakfast in the morning I often listen to Moray Firth Radio and lo and behold it says 'the Thurso to Inverness train is not running today because there's no staff or no driver'. Folk have got to get to their work or hospital appointments...it's ridiculous and I don't know how they [ScotRail] get away with it."
The couples said they had otherwise "thoroughly enjoyed" their stay in Wick and the match which ended in a 2-2 draw.
The ScotRail spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to the customers whose journey was disrupted on Sunday. To keep people moving, we arranged replacement transport to allow customers to complete their journey.
“Anyone who was delayed by 30 minutes or more is entitled to claim money back through our Delay Repay Guarantee. Just keep hold of your ticket and claim on our website or mobile app.”
