Community councillors in Dunblane have written to the Transport Minister calling for an “urgent review” of train services stopping in the town.
It follows the introduction of a ‘temporary timetable’ in the wake of a dispute between operators Scotrail and the drivers’ union ASLEF over pay.
The amended timetable saw hundreds of services being cancelled on a daily basis across Scotland - including trains calling in Dunblane from both Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street.
ASLEF have now recommended their drivers accept a fresh proposal from Scotrail offering drivers a five per cent pay increase, as well as other conditions including no compulsory redundancies within the next five years.
The disruption has prompted Dunblane Community Council to pen a letter to Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth asking for action to be taken in the wake of what it describes as the “decimation” of Dunblane’s rail service.
The letter, written by community council chairwoman Ailsa Gray, claims that the number of trains coming through Dunblane have been reduced by two-thirds since the introduction of the new timetable and said it leaves the town with “no effective service” to Glasgow.
In the letter, Ms Gray writes: “Prior to this timetable the previous service cancellations were random and completely unpredictable making it impossible for commuters to rely on the train service to commute to work.
“Now the service is predictable but Dunblane is left with no effective service between Dunblane and Glasgow, our nearest major city.
“Many people are resorting to the unsustainable option of travelling to work by car, clearly undermining the Scottish Government’s target of reducing car miles.
“It is starting to look like the current dispute will be prolonged and even if it is resolved we anticipate that the temporary reduced timetable will be in force for some months. We are therefore requesting that an urgent review is undertaken to provide our community with an adequate and reliable train service, especially to Glasgow.
“For commuter confidence to return, it is critical that such a service can be advertised and delivered, and that it also provides for the journey people need to make.
“Long distance trains continue to run non-stop through Dunblane with many empty seats and time within their schedules to stop and provide a service to the people of Dunblane. This would be an easy and cost-effective solution to Dunblane’s rail problems.
“We ask that you approach ScotRail to ensure that Dunblane is added to the timetable with the aim of providing our community with a useable train service to Glasgow.”
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alexander Stewart backed Ms Gray’s call for a review into the current service.
Mr Stewart said: “I thoroughly support DCC chair Ailsa Gray’s letter and echo every word; this entire situation requires a full review and complete overhaul of the truly appalling rail service that commuters on the Stirling to Edinburgh and Glasgow have been subjected to, for far too long.
“Dunblane – and indeed Bridge of Allan on the same line – has been subjected to considerable disruption and extremely poor rail service stretching as far back as the commencement of electrification works in 2015.
“In the last six years or so since the beginning of the previous Parliamentary session, not a single week went by without a great many residents getting in touch with me who had been either stranded or severely inconvenienced by not only the unpredictability of services on this line”.
“Not only have things never really improved since, the subsequent nationalisation of the Scotland’s railways on April Fool’s Day 2022 which was hailed by the Scottish Government’s own party as a panacea; a cure-all of our collective transport woes, it is clear that the predicted result of the SNP’s mis-handling of the entire debacle has caused the entire system to have taken one huge backward step.”
