Scotland: Ghost Train

[John Ashworth]

Ghost train journey on Far North line

Published: 05 August, 2009
John O'Groat Journal

A TRAIN did not pick up passengers during a scheduled trip between Wick and Inverness, it has emerged.

Those waiting to board the early-afternoon service were instead told a taxi would be laid on to take them down the A9.

The Sprinter train, with three carriages, made the four-hour-plus journey to the Highland capital on Saturday with just the driver and the buffet attendant.

The problem was caused by First ScotRail being unable to find a replacement for the conductor who had phoned in sick.

Far North woman Bunty Gunn has described the situation as farcical.

"You couldn't make it up if you tried," she remarked.

Mrs Gunn and her husband, Iain, had been seeing off a member of the Clan Gunn Society following its week-long international gathering in the Far North.

London lawyer Tom Jamieson had intended getting on the train at Georgemas Junction, just south of Thurso.

Mrs Gunn said: "We arrived just before the train was due at 1.17pm. When it pulled up, we noticed there were no passengers.

"The driver then told us that because there was no guard, they couldn't pick anybody up. The only ones on the train were the driver and the trolley dolly."

Mr Jamieson was told that a taxi would take him to Helmsdale by when it was hoped to have a conductor on board.

But he ended up going all the way to Inverness by road, along with seven other would-be train passengers.

Mr Jamieson had intended buying a ticket at Georgemas but was unable to do so and ended up making the journey free of charge.

He arrived in Inverness earlier than scheduled and in plenty of time to catch his flight to London.

Mrs Gunn said: "Have you ever heard a sillier way to waste money or a sillier way to run a railway?

"They have paid for eight people to go by taxi all the way to Inverness while a train is running alongside it."

Mrs Gunn, known to a generation of watchers of ITV's How! programme as presenter Bunty James, added: "It's absolutely ridiculous. I fear they will one day turn round and pull the plug on the service as there's not enough passengers using it and here they are turning trade away. You just wonder how often this sort of thing happens."

A First ScotRail spokeswoman said that safety is the firm's top priority and as such it had no option but to run the train empty.

She said: "Trains between Wick and Inverness must have a conductor on board in order to carry passengers. Due to staff illness we were unable to operate one passenger train from Wick to Inverness on Saturday.

"As a replacement conductor was not available in time, a small number of passengers were transported to their destination by taxi. The train did travel to Inverness to meet its next scheduled operation."

The spokeswoman added that staff had ensured passengers were not delayed on their journey.