Rail industry defends itself on rail forum shocker .....
As I have stated several times before, the service I personally use is abysmal, and not just this month. Many people in my village won't touch the train with a bargepole because they have been delayed or cancelled altogether so many times and it's a major inconvenience once too many. When something goes wrong it takes hours to get things back to normal. the incident recovery times are far too long. I have written to my MSP several times and all he gets back from Scotrail / Network rail (delete as approriate) are the same pre-prepared "we're sorry , lessons learned, investing in the best ever railway" replies which have worn thin by now.
I applaud the £170 million investment on our line but it's probably too little too late. Between Scotrail and Network Rail Scotland they couldn't run a bath, and the alliance is nothing more than a sham as they plainly blame each other all the time.
Don't take it for granted the railways will be there forever. People will get tired of all the hassle, price increases and the "it is what it is" attitude and walk away. It's just a matter of time.
I can't see how a new timetable will mitigate crew shortages, constant points failures and a complete lack of fleet maintenance. Trains shouldn't be developing nearly as much faults as they have lately so there's obviously something badly wrong there too. Every day people are complaining about freezing trains with no working toilets. And not just the odd one either.
Oh, and trains are still terminating early, seen one on today's Twitter feed. surely that counts as skipping stops ..... no?