HAVE I missed something? To read your report on the last year on the railways, courtesy of the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising, you might think ScotRail had brought us to the promised land. Punctuality is up, reliability is up. Mr Ure, the rail users' friend, is ecstatic as usual. Only poor old Richard Branson's West Coast shambles has let us down.
Can I spoil the party? ScotRail has restored none of the services that were cut before privatisation was wished upon us. We still have a toytown service provided solely by diesel rail cars, laughably known as Sprinters, that should really be confined to the branchiest of branch lines.
No moves have been made to put proper trains (so popular with backpackers and tourists) back on the Highland lines in the summer. The Motorail service is long dead and buried. There are no overnight seated services between England and Scotland.
No electrification is envisaged over the next 10 years. The Edinburgh-Glasgow service takes longer than it did a decade ago. Aberdeen (and Inverness) are still agonising hours away from Edinburgh and Glasgow, with no prospect of any real improvements.
Privatisation has now stuck us in the time-warp that critics warned of and while the rest of Europe presses ahead with high-speed rail services, we are expected to get excited because an expensive third-rate service is just about succeeding in hitting its very undemanding targets. Big deal!
Bill Williams,
Mill Business Centre, PO Box 3,
Ellon, AB41 9EA. May 12.
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