Scotrail to meet north-east community over train delays

A north-east MSP has met with Scotrail bosses to address the latest of grievances from commuters.

Timetable changes put in place by ScotRail in 2018 resulted in stations such as Laurencekirk being stripped of many services, with travellers forced to detour to Montrose to catch connecting trains.

Mairi Gougeon MSP has now met senior ScotRail staff  to discuss the complaints.

She said: “The interchange at Montrose and lack of trains travelling south is still a problem for many commuters or those travelling for leisure.

“Scotrail did outline future plans to develop direct services at more appropriate times for those travelling south to Laurencekirk from Aberdeen, as well as direct services from Laurencekirk to Dundee at peak times.

“I hope to arrange an information session, together with Scotrail at Laurencekirk, where these updates and future plans can be discussed with the local community.”

At a meeting in Laurencekirk last year Scott Prentice, head of business development at Scotrail, previously said the company had “shot ourselves in the foot” over timetable changes.

Last night, he said it has been a “very positive meeting” with Ms Gougeon.

“We are absolutely committed to delivering improvements for our customers and the meeting provided a good opportunity to highlight some of those improvements, and our plans for even more in the future.

“Our most recent timetable change in December delivered significant improvements in the north east of the country, and record investment on infrastructure and £475million in new and upgraded trains, will help us to deliver the service our customers expect and deserve.”