A HORRIFIED ScotRail passenger has shared a picture of the dirty old guard’s carriage he was forced to commute in.
The image by Facebook user ‘Aitcheffsee Broon’ shows the grubby, stained floor of the caged compartment which does not have a single seat.
The Kirkcaldy to Edinburgh service – which costs commuters £55 a week – used the carriage because the train was so full.
ScotRail confirmed in a response to his post that they were using the “loco hauled service” to provide extra capacity.
Posting directly to the Scotrail Facebook page at 8.23 yesterday morning (MON), the angry commuter shared the grim picture with the caption: “So Scotrail this is the new and improved travel? In a luggage car because there’s not enough cars with seats? Mmmm?”
His photo shows the old caged compartment with no seats and a dirty, stained red floor.
Outside the mesh cage, there’s a tight corridor with a worn out floor and doors and windows which look unfamiliar to those usually seen in carriages meant for passengers.
Scotrail responded to his grievance to say: “That’s one of our loco hauled service, it provides extra capacity on the Fife Circle service in the morning peak for passengers.”
‘Aitcheffsee’ responded to point out that the company had perhaps failed to pick up on his sarcastic comment about “new and improved” travel.
He replied: “Scotrail that was meant as sarcasm” Why not put on carriages with seats?”
The company responded: “We do have 5 coaches which are fully seated on the train, this is the guards/brake van you’re in.
“We’re using every carriage we have available I’m afraid, there are no extra that we can add at the moment.”
After the passenger drew attention to ScotRail’s claims to be introducing faster and more spacious trains, the firm replied: “We’ve more trains on the way but it’s not an overnight fix I’m afraid.”
Fellow Facebook user, James Reilly, commented on the picture: “This has to be a new low.”
It recently emerged that a Scotrail train didn’t collect passengers at one station because the driver “forgot to stop”.
Last Friday’s 13.00 Glasgow to Edinburgh service failed to stop at Croy in North Lanarkshire.
The under-fire firm also hit the headlines recently when it was revealed that they apologise once every 51 minutes on social media for train troubles.
Scottish Conservative MSP Liam Kerr said: “While passengers have been calling out for extra capacity on trains, this wasn’t what they were meaning.
“The dreadful service that ScotRail are providing would be comical if it wasn’t hampering so many commuters every day.
“We need a service that runs on time with large capacity trains, not a service that thinks shoving passengers in cattle class is an effective solution.”
The picture was taken in the luggage van of a ‘loco-hauled’ train. These are trains which are hauled by a diesel locomotive as opposed to the rest of the ScotRail fleet which are powered by motors beneath the carriages.
These trains are hired from Direct Rail Services to provide extra capacity for four peak-time services on weekdays.
The area where the photo is taken is connected to a seperate seating area and is intended for bikes or large items to be place in before passengers take their seats.
A ScotRail spokesman said: “These six-carriage loco-hauled trains currently provide extra capacity when it is most needed by our customers in Fife.
“Over the next two years we will be introducing 200 new and refurbished carriages to ScotRail fleet, allowing us to cascade newer rolling stock onto these routes while increasing the number of seats on offer.”
