THE ‘unacceptable’ situation with passenger trains calling at Lockerbie station was raised in Holyrood last week.
South Scotland SNP MSP Emma Harper gets continued complaints from constituents who are impacted by last minute delays and cancellations of Transpennine Express services to Glasgow, Edinburgh and south of the borde.
So she raised the matter directly to the Scottish Government’s Transport Minister in a question in the Scottish Parliament.
While the Minister is not responsible for Transpennine services or the West Coast Mainline, the MSP requested her help in putting pressure on to improve the situation. She also requested that the Minister facilitate a meeting with her and Network Rail to discuss Transpennine’s contract for the West Coast mainline.
Commenting, Ms Harper said: “Rail services on the West Coast mainline are in a complete fankle. The situation at Lockerbie is completely unacceptable – we have no ScotRail services, yet ScotRail operate the ticketing and manage the station. The line is owned by Network Rail, but passenger services are operated by Transpennine Express. These Transpennine Express services are often massively delayed and cancelled at last minute, with no notice, no replacement bus service and people are often left stranded in Lockerbie with no other option. This is unacceptable and unsustainable.
“While the Scottish Government have no control over these issues, I have asked the Minister to intervene and put pressure on Transpennine Express for this situation to be urgently improved. I have also asked the Minister to facilitate a meeting between me and Network Rail who are responsible for procurement and rail contracts to ask them to take action.
“With the current climate emergency, we need more than ever to have a reliable passenger rail service from Lockerbie – and this is a top priority for me.”
The politician also appealed to anyone affected to contact her office with their experiences of rail services at Lockerbie so she can use it as an evidence base for ‘much needed action’.
