Scotrail post-covid

[Abc100]

Now that Scotland is in “beyond level zero” and scotrail has announced it won’t be enforcing face mask wearing, does anyone know if we can expect a return of first class and catering services, particularly on Inter7city routes?

This must be off putting to passengers facing a 3 hour journey without refreshment availability, especially when LNER are able to run cafe bars on their services on similar routes.

 

[williamn]

Was wondering the same…

 

[Abc100]

It seems other operators are now providing this - makes scotrail’s service look quite poor in comparison

 

[AlterEgo]

I deliberately chose LNER on the Aberdeen-Edinburgh route today because they are running a catering service and have first class. Scotrail must surely put the services back soon.

 

[hexagon789]

Now that Scotland is in “beyond level zero” and scotrail has announced it won’t be enforcing face mask wearing, does anyone know if we can expect a return of first class and catering services, particularly on inter7city routes? This must be off putting to passengers facing a 3 hour journey without refreshment availability, especially when LNER are able to run cafebars on their services on similar routes.

I asked them again recently (about 3/4 weeks ago now I think) and the "vague" reply suggested next spring at the earliest.

(I brought this up in the HST thread.)

 

[Merseysider]

There’s catering on my GLQ - Fort William train right now - though I have no idea if that’s just started up again or been going for a while.

Agree that it’d be good to see the return of First Class on their Inter7City routes.

 

[AlterEgo]

I asked them again recently (about 3/4 weeks ago now I think) and the "vague" reply suggested next spring at the earliest.

(I brought this up in the HST thread.)

What on earth..?

 

[hexagon789]

There’s catering on my GLQ - Fort William train right now - though I have no idea if that’s just started up again or been going for a while.

Agree that it’d be good to see the return of First Class on their Inter7City routes.

That's interesting because their website says it's still suspended and they will update when it will be resumed. Perhaps the recent loosening of restrictions has been enough to prompt a change of tack?

What on earth..?

Doesn't seem to be the case now given Merseysider's experience.

 

[Abc100]

It seems that scotrail have all but given up on customer service. Aberdeen to central belt intercity services dropped from hourly to 2-hourly, no end to Sunday strikes (and no service) in sight, no first class, no seat reservations, no advance fares on intercity routes…no catering despite HST cafe bars sitting empty - have I missed anything?
For all the promises of the inter7city fleet and service, they really seem unmotivated

 

[XAM2175]

no advance fares on intercity routes

I've got some booked from Queen Street to Inverness at the end of the month?

 

[Merseysider]

no advance fares on intercity routes

I can assure you that there are...

It seems that scotrail have all but given up on customer service.

Management maybe, but certainly not the staff on the ground. I’ve witnessed several of them go above and beyond to help customers this last week or two.

 

[Abc100]

I can assure you that there are...


Management maybe, but certainly not the staff on the ground. I’ve witnessed several of them go above and beyond to help customers this last week or two.

Sorry should have clarified - most of the staff are amazing with the resources they have - had great customer service from some during difficulties lately. I referred to the management attitude to services

 

[Journeyman]

I asked them again recently (about 3/4 weeks ago now I think) and the "vague" reply suggested next spring at the earliest.

(I brought this up in the HST thread.)

They'll be lucky if they have any customers left by then.

 

[Abc100]

I've got some booked from Queen Street to Inverness at the end of the month?

Interesting - ticket office staff claimed they still weren’t available on QS to ABD recently - perhaps now reinstated

They'll be lucky if they have any customers left by then.

Customers tend to focus on the small things - such as being able to get a refreshment on a long journey - when judging a service. Catering is a huge issue in aberdeen at present due to the station rebuild, so there’s nowhere to even purchase something there before catching an early train

 

[Huntergreed]

I imagine it’s partially due to the Scottish government implying that COVID restrictions will remain until at least next spring at the earliest, with implications of travel bans and local lockdowns when cases get too high.

I imagine it’s also down to poor management. On the whole, I’ve found the frontline Scotrail staff excellent, but the management and behind-the-scenes staff considerably less so (in general).

I do hope that this is the case. I passed Slateford earlier and there were at least 10 HST “Coach E’s” waiting to be coupled in.

I just hope this isn’t an admission that things will not be changing until then.

Customers tend to focus on the small things - such as being able to get a refreshment on a long journey - when judging a service. Catering is a huge issue in aberdeen at present due to the station rebuild, so there’s nowhere to even purchase something there before catching an early train

Aberdeen station is conjoined onto Union Square shopping centre, which has plenty places to eat!

Admittedly, they’ve blocked the connection off so you have to go outside for a total of 5 seconds at the moment to access this, but it’s hardly a “huge issue”.

 

[Abc100]

I imagine it’s partially due to the Scottish government implying that COVID restrictions will remain until at least next spring at the earliest, with implications of travel bans and local lockdowns when cases get too high.

I imagine it’s also down to poor management. On the whole, I’ve found the frontline Scotrail staff excellent, but the management and behind-the-scenes staff considerably less so (in general).

I do hope that this is the case. I passed Slateford earlier and there were at least 10 HST “Coach E’s” waiting to be coupled in.

I just hope this isn’t an admission that things will not be changing until then.


Aberdeen station is conjoined onto Union Square shopping centre, which has plenty places to eat!

Admittedly, they’ve blocked the connection off so you have to go outside for a total of 5 seconds at the moment to access this, but it’s hardly a “huge issue”.

From recent experience it is actually an issue as union square facilities cater for shoppers so most don’t open around the time one would catch an early train. Point is - if LNER can provide the service, why can’t SR…

 

[haggishunter]

One of the Union Square / Aberdeen station internal connections was open earlier this week.

Booked a return ticket on citylink because of the no Sunday trains and they’ve introduced new coaches on the West Highland routes. Abellio probably has no reason to care, but are the current issues going to do lasting damage to ScotRail well beyond their departure ? Would the corporate attitude have been better now if they’d got the 3 year extension?

 

[Bikeman78]

Any sign of the Freedom of Scotland travelpass coming back?

 

[snookertam]

I've been advised that the current reduced service patterns are likely to remain until the December timetable change at the earliest - although the person telling me might not necessarily have up-to-date info it does seem to tie in with the general lack of communication from the company to the travelling public, so as to not get anyone's expectations up.

There are occasional exceptions to this - the Edinburgh/Glasgow Queen Street service seems to have ran a 15 min service today (Saturday), whether that's an August or a Saturday only thing going forward I'm not sure. It would make sense to reintroduce the 15 min frequency on that day first to be fair, given the loss of commuters and return of leisure travel. Elsewhere, several commuter routes seem to have had their frequencies halved for the foreseeable. They seem to be holding off to the very last moment possible to reintroduce the full timetable, if at all.

However, I would note that today I've been on two routes (Balloch-Airdrie as far as Queen Street LL) and Glasgow Central to Newton (as far as Mount Florida) and passenger numbers are pretty healthy. So at the weekend at least (well, Saturdays given the current strike situation) people seem to be returning to the trains around Glasgow.

On the point of ScotRail front line staff friendliness as opposed to management - I would very much concur with this. I think in part some of the front line staff are just delighted to see the travelling public again in many cases (over and above their typical professionalism), but equally I think they are also baring the brunt of the very disinterested running of the franchise by Abellio. I would point out that back in 2015, when the franchise was awarded, most ScotRail staff knew then that Abellio would be a disaster - whatever they thought of First Group they could tell that their plans were realistic - there was instant distrust of Abellio from the start.

 

[lachlan]

I imagine it’s partially due to the Scottish government implying that COVID restrictions will remain until at least next spring at the earliest, with implications of travel bans and local lockdowns when cases get too high.

I imagine it’s also down to poor management. On the whole, I’ve found the frontline Scotrail staff excellent, but the management and behind-the-scenes staff considerably less so (in general).

I do hope that this is the case. I passed Slateford earlier and there were at least 10 HST “Coach E’s” waiting to be coupled in.

I just hope this isn’t an admission that things will not be changing until then.


Aberdeen station is conjoined onto Union Square shopping centre, which has plenty places to eat!

Admittedly, they’ve blocked the connection off so you have to go outside for a total of 5 seconds at the moment to access this, but it’s hardly a “huge issue”.

I always wondered why they make you walk outside at Aberdeen to access Union Square.

It's about time ScotRail opened up waiting rooms again and removed the social distancing stickers from seats. Closed waiting rooms and lack of onboard catering will be putting people off taking the train

 

[Bikeman78]

Aberdeen to central belt intercity services dropped from hourly to 2-hourly,

Made worse by the fact that they start pulling out stops when a train is 20 minutes late.

 

[185143]

There’s catering on my GLQ - Fort William train right now - though I have no idea if that’s just started up again or been going for a while.

Agree that it’d be good to see the return of First Class on their Inter7City routes.

It returned on Monday, according to the steward on my Glasgow-Mallaig train. Trolley in both portions to Oban and FTW as well.

I'm reliably informed that TPE will be resuming catering this Monday, primarily on the Scottish services.

 

[route101]

My local line is still on a reduced service. Goes hourly from 7ish to the second last service. The 2247 last night from Central to East Kilbride was just about full and standing. Lanark and East Kilbride still hourly in evening.

 

[alex397]

I’m planning a trip around Scotland, and I was surprised there are no trains between Aberdeen and Inverness on Sundays. I find that quite surprising - I thought they’d at least be a couple of journeys. Is this due to Covid timetable reductions?

Although even if there was a Sunday service, I doubt it would be running due to the Sunday strikes.

As I’ve booked quite a few things already (yes I should have checked there would be trains, it’s my fault) it looks like I’ll be travelling on Stagecoach bus route 10 which takes 4hr10. It definitely looks more of a bus route than a coach route. But it will still be scenic I guess!

 

[Huntergreed]

I’m planning a trip around Scotland, and I was surprised there are no trains between Aberdeen and Inverness on Sundays. I find that quite surprising - I thought they’d at least be a couple of journeys. Is this due to Covid timetable reductions?

Although even if there was a Sunday service, I doubt it would be running due to the Sunday strikes.

As I’ve booked quite a few things already (yes I should have checked there would be trains, it’s my fault) it looks like I’ll be travelling on Stagecoach bus route 10 which takes 4hr10. It definitely looks more of a bus route than a coach route. But it will still be scenic I guess!

Scotrail strikes on Sunday mean there’s no rail service at all in Scotland on a Sunday other than:

Helensburgh - Edinburgh
Glasgow - Ayr
Glasgow - Largs
Glasgow - Gourock
Glasgow - Wemyss Bay
TPE/LNER/XC/Avanti

It’s exceptionally poor, and likely to continue for the remainder of 2021 as much as I can see.

 

[Highlandspring]

I’m planning a trip around Scotland, and I was surprised there are no trains between Aberdeen and Inverness on Sundays. I find that quite surprising - I thought they’d at least be a couple of journeys. Is this due to Covid timetable reductions? Although even if there was a Sunday service, I doubt it would be running due to the Sunday strikes.

On a normal non-strike Sunday there are five trains in each direction on the Aberdeen/Inverness line.

 

[alex397]

On a normal non-strike Sunday there are five trains in each direction on the Aberdeen/Inverness line.

Thanks for this.
It seems odd to me that all reference of Sunday services on this line have gone. I’d expect the journeys to still show up on journey planners, but with a note that the journey is likely to be cancelled or something. I guess they’ve been removed as its a fairly long term strike as Huntergreed suggests.

I have also tweeted Scotrail just to confirm there is no Sunday service on this line (in general, not just on a certain date), and they said no.

I’m now considering cutting out Aberdeen from my Scotland trip.

 

[snookertam]

Thanks for this.
It seems odd to me that all reference of Sunday services on this line have gone. I’d expect the journeys to still show up on journey planners, but with a note that the journey is likely to be cancelled or something. I guess they’ve been removed as its a fairly long term strike as Huntergreed suggests.

I have also tweeted Scotrail just to confirm there is no Sunday service on this line (in general, not just on a certain date), and they said no.

I’m now considering cutting out Aberdeen from my Scotland trip.

Yes, in theory the Sunday service is not there purely because of the strike action, but in reality this strike action is incredibly convenient for ScotRail. The lack of effort by anyone to attempt to force a resolution to this situation very much suggests all are happy with this state of affairs.

 

[devon_metro]

The lack of media attention to the Scotrail strike is staggering. If it were in England, the nasty Tories would be getting slammed by the media, but it just seems the SNP administration is untouchable.

 

[Sidious]

Any sign of the Freedom of Scotland travelpass coming back?

It’s back on sale today