Thanks for the information everyone.
Not the answer I was hoping for but still best to know in advance anyway. I agree that it is silly to force folk to de-train effectively in the middle of nowhere to switch on to a bus for no reason. The 5.20 train between Glasgow and Oban isn't normally overly busy so I am not sure why there wouldn't be space (even on a 2 car 156) to accommodate the ordinary passengers plus the school children?. If my memory serves me correct this train has always been a double 156 (4 carrages) anyway so if it is a social distance issue, I see no reason why the train couldn't be divided (3 cars for school kids and 1 for regular passengers). 1 car even half a car should be more than sufficient to carry passengers on that service.
It is also a poor show from Scotrail as their website isn't 100% clear about these trains only travelling as far as Dalmally (the 5.20 in the timetable is still showing as calling at all stops between Glasgow and Oban with no mention of a replacement bus between Dalmally and Oban). Yes there is a red message at the top of the page which mentions a school train but the wording is ambiguous and far from clear how this affects the public travelling from Glasgow and doesnt mention what services are affected. The Scotrail staff also appear to be unaware of this bustitution malarkey. This morning enroute to work my sister asked another Scotrail employee about this and they said the same as the employee that I asked yesterday (that there was no change to Oban services). She also asked an employee in the travel office and received the same answer so went ahead and purchased the tickets. Regarding our own plans this will most definitely have quite an impact as changing from a train on to a bus at Dalmally is impractical so will mean having to catch a later service, will have a knock on impact on transport at the Oban side and most likely result in us losing a full day.
Whilst I accept these are exceptional times I still think that there could be a better solution than this, and scotrails lack of knowledge/poor communication on this matter does leave a lot to be desired I must say.
I think you’re being a little bit unfair here.
Post #8 answers the question of numbers. I think that it would be next to near impossible to implement social distancing for the normal passengers with 130 schoolchildren boarding between Dalmally and Oban on a 2-coach train which this is. It isn’t 4-coach.
It isn’t happening for “no reason” - it is an effort to implement social distancing on the section where the loading dictates it is needed.
I would agree that the journey planner should highlight the requirement to change at Dalmally, and the text in the the red box should specify the 05:20 service, but beyond that it is pretty clear that it’s only for schoolkids on that section.
School pupil train only for all stations between Dalmally and Oban. A rail replacement bus will run in place of this service for all other customers. Use station help point for further information.
Regarding changing, do bear in mind that there is no footbridge to cross, and the train has a six minute wait at Dalmally so it wouldn’t be a rush to change if that is the issue.
These are really difficult times and I think we all need to cut the operators some slack, as plans are having to be done “on the hoof” so to speak to deal with the effects of the pandemic.
What is the policy if you get a passenger refusing to vacate the train at Dalmally and demanding to remain on with the schoolkids?
We are talking about maybe 5 people max per train, probably less that would have to change at Dalmally.
Why focus on something that, let’s be honest, is highly unlikely to actually happen?
I suspect that faced with the choice between being crammed into a 2-coach train with 130 kids or socially distancing on a coach for a short period of time, that pretty much everyone would choose the latter in the current circumstances.
