ScotRail admits it 'didn't do well enough' after delays

Louise Kerr said she "couldn't breathe" on the train she travelled on from Edinburgh

ScotRail has admitted it "didn't do well enough" after major disruption to Edinburgh services at the weekend.

Commuters claimed trains from Waverley and Haymarket were dangerously overcrowded on Saturday night while other services were cancelled.

ScotRail operations director David Simpson apologised and said a trespasser on the line and a train failure were partly to blame.

But he admitted the firm needed to improve communication with customers.

Passenger numbers were high as it was the last weekend of the Edinburgh festivals and Murrayfield had hosted an international rugby match.

ScotRail has begun an investigation into what went wrong, and has urged delayed customers to claim compensation.

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Mr Simpson told Good Morning Scotland that services simply were not able to cope with volumes of customers on top of two rail incidents on Saturday.

He continued: "We had a plan for Saturday and that plan didn't go well. We had more customers than we've seen in previous weekends in August which had worked quite well but I think with international rugby and the football being on the number of customers we had was excessive.

"We also had a trespass incident at Curriehill, we had a train failure, and between them that meant that trains weren't able to run as planned and that caused the crowd and congestion that we heard about through social media."

Scores of passengers posted criticism of ScotRail on Twitter, claiming they failed to plan for the busy weekend.

BBC Scotland also received many messages from people caught up in the chaotic scenes at stations and on board trains.

Transport Scotland said the problems were "unacceptable" and that the ScotRail Alliance was carrying out an immediate investigation.

One passenger found an unconventional place to rest his head on board a crowded train

Liz Warren-Corney at Transport Salaried Staffs' Association also said ScotRail needed to look at how they fill staff vacancies.

She continued: "They've been far too dependent on staff willing to do overtime and that's part of what happened this weekend - people weren't willing to do overtime.

"The Fringe comes around every year [as well as] the international at Murrayfield - they had an awful lot of time that they could have planned better for it. They could have made better arrangements."

However, Mr Simpson dismissed suggestions that staff were not willing to work overtime.

He said: "We had every available driver driving trains and we had every available train out trying to move customers so this wasn't a question of unwillingness to work overtime - everyone who was available was out there trying to move people.

"We did anticipate the high numbers and we saw very many people moving to Edinburgh during the course of the day, we had extra trains planned - we had a lot of trains planned.

"We don't have spare trains lying around to step in at short notice, we don't have the availability to do that."

And when pressed on the issue of communication of information between staff and customers, Mr Simpson said "we need to do better".

He added: "That's a key element of what went wrong. Given the incidents we had it was quite a fast moving picture and making sure that our staff on the ground have up to date information available to give to customers will be a key part of this investigation."

Passenger Gill Craig said a number of trains to Glasgow Queen Street from Edinburgh Waverley were cancelled before she was finally able to board.

"Levels of overcrowding on the platforms and on the trains were dangerously high," she said.

"Surely ScotRail could have anticipated that the last Saturday of the Festival/Fringe and a rugby international would have required extra trains?

"How could two trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow, which should have been at least seven coaches long, be cancelled at such short notice?

"The public need answers. We need to be confident that this dangerous situation will not happen again."

Gillian Broderick said her two children were crushed against the train door when they arrived a Haymarket and people tried to get onboard.

"They could see there was no room but would not be deterred," she said.

"Verbal abuse, physical abuse, bags pushed into my children's faces. Absolutely disgusting behaviour from people who showed no concern for the safety of others including children and babies."

Meanwhile Lesley Eadie told the BBC Scotland website that passengers were "packed like sardines" on her train from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street.

Lesley Eadie took this photograph on delayed late night service from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street

At one point she saw passengers pass a baby along the carriage, from the child's father to his mother.

"The family had sat down and the dad took the child - who was maybe 18 months or two years old - to the toilet," she said.

"When they got out the train was so packed, he couldn't get back to his seat."

Mr Simpson said the issue of comfort would also form part of the investigation but that the firm "wouldn't run a train if it was unsafe".

At the height of the disruption ScotRail was encouraging people travelling from Edinburgh city centre to consider making alternative arrangements.

A spokesman for the firm said: "We're sorry to our customers who experienced disruption and busy services yesterday.

"We do all that we can to meet demand. Every available train we have was out on the network to get our customers where they needed to be.

"Customers delayed by 30 minutes or more are encouraged to claim for money back via our Delay Repay Guarantee on our website or mobile app."