Moray residents who believe rail services have gone off track will have the chance to question the managing director of Scotrail Alliance at a public meeting later this month.
Richard Lochhead MSP will chair the event at Elgin Town Hall on Monday, April 30 when passengers from the region will be able to discuss topics of concern with rail boss Alex Hynes.
Mr Lochhead said he had been made aware of problems with reliability of services, fare anomalies and seat shortages by a number of residents.
Those issues have been raised despite significant ongoing improvement to the rail network across Moray as a result of an £80million investment by the Scottish Government.
The project includes a new station in Forres, extended platforms in Elgin, and upgrading signalling systems between Elgin and Inverness.
Mr Lochhead said: “I think it is really important for the relatively new managing director of Scotrail to hear directly from Moray’s passengers on local rail services.
“I’m grateful to Alex Hynes for agreeing to join me for a public event.
“We’ve seen significant investment in Moray’s rail infrastructure from the Scottish Government, with a new train stop at Forres and improvements on the line to allow for increased services to help cut journey times, which is great news.
“The £80million investment in Moray’s rail infrastructure is the biggest rail users have seen in a lifetime and will be of huge benefit in the long-term.
“Local rail users, however, do have some concerns about the service provided by ScotRail, particularly around the cancellation and reliability of trains and the lack of capacity on busier services used by commuters.
“I hope that this meeting can put the spotlight on these issues and persuade bosses to take steps to improve services in Moray.”
A ScotRail Alliance spokesman said: “The Aberdeeen to Inverness line is key to our plan of building the best railway Scotland has ever had.
“The work we are doing now will mean more seats, faster journeys and better services for customers.
“Mr Hynes is looking forward to meeting Richard Lochhead and his constituents.”
The meeting begins at 7.30pm.
