Games prove winner for trains as trips soar

THE number of train journeys being made on Scotland’s railways boomed thanks to the Commonwealth Games.

Figures from the Office of Rail and Road regulator reveal the country had the UK’s largest annual rise – up 8.7 per cent to 691,000 trips – for 2014-15 thanks to the event.

Across Britain, a total of 1.4billion trips were made by train in 2014-15 compared to 590million in 1995-96. Last year’s figures represented a 4.5 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

Railway writer Christian Wolmar said there were many reasons for the boost, such as improvements in the network, the rise in commuters travelling to work and more young people preferring to travel by rail rather than car.

But Mr Wolmar said the number of trains had not kept up with the rise in passengers, leaving the network ‘stretched’.

He added: ‘On the whole most journeys are okay. There are some issues around commuting. Too many people are having to stand and some inter-city trains are very packed.’

Meanwhile, rail union leaders have expressed ‘disbelief’ at an official report on passenger satisfaction levels, saying their members were having to cope with anger at overcrowding and delays and complaints about fare prices on a daily basis.

A survey of more than 28,000 passengers by the Transport Focus watchdog found a slight increase in overall satisfaction to 83 per cent in autumn 2015 – up from 81 per cent year-on-year.

But unions pointed to other information in the report showing 15 of the 26 UK train companies recorded a fall in passengers’ satisfaction over room to sit or stand, while satisfaction with punctuality fell for nine of the companies.