First Scotrail Aberdeen to Inverness

[Butts]

On Friday I travelled up to Aberdeen on East Coast 1st Class and then transferred to a Scotrail Service.

The 1st Class was a joke - not even a door separating it just a little curved arch type jobbie at waist level.

Also the service only had two carriages and was rammed "underground style".

It was obvious people sitting in the "1st Class" didn't have the proper tickets -I could see them on the table. Perhaps they were confused by the layout.

Thank god I was only going to Dyce (10mins)

Anyone who paid 1st Class to Inverness would have been peed off

 

[First class]

Same as the SouthEast really.

You get a seat in peak time, and a cuppa and shortbread if a trolley is on.

It's free for Advance Card holders Saturday, Sunday and Bank Hols.

 

[Butts]

Same as the SouthEast really.

You get a seat in peak time, and a cuppa and shortbread if a trolley is on.

It's free for Advance Card holders Saturday, Sunday and Bank Hols.

You couldn't have got a "cigarette paper" through never mind a trolley - it was on the train though as I saw it.

I wonder if after I got off at Dyce (before ticket check) the Guard kicked all the "freeloaders" out of 1st Class.

 

[scotsman]

was it even in the timetable as a service with 1st Class? I could be wrong, but I'm [retty sure that not every service on that line has 1st

 

[DaveNewcastle]

was it even in the timetable as a service with 1st Class? I could be wrong, but I'm [retty sure that not every service on that line has 1st

I think they do, actually, but many don't have any catering staff (or trolley).

Its a busy little line and struggles for want of capacity. It would probably be even busier if there was a stop as it passed Inverness Airport!

Isn't there also a 4 hour gap where off-peak and/or advances aren't available, creating even busier loadings either side of that?

 

[rail-britain]

All services on Aberdeen - Inverness now normally offer First Class (where the service has this)

The 1st Class was a joke
It was obvious people sitting in the "1st Class" didn't have the proper tickets

These services should have First Class
Did the Ticket examiner appear and check tickets?
If so, they should have asked passengers without First Class tickets to either leave or pay the excess

I do agree though, on these trains the First Class is rather poor

Historically these services did not have First Class in the last few years, it has only recently been introduced
A small number of through services had First Class but the majority were the Glasgow QS - Dyce services

 

[michael769]

I'm guessing this was a 158 which IMO does have very poor FC facilities 9compared to the 170s).

From experience I know that when trains are rammed full tFC goes out the window - more because the staff cannot get through than from any official de-classification.

 

[4SRKT]

The service frequency is more or less the same now as in the 1980s, but the service was then provided by duffs hauling 6 or 7 coaches. Usually when routes were Sprinterised it was accompanied by an increase in service frequency, but not here it seems. OK, there are a few Edinburgh > Inverurie extra workings, but there always were additional extras to Dyce (extensions of the Glasgow > Aberdeen push-pulls), so even they're not a huge boost to capacity.

 

[tbtc]

Its a difficult service to provide capacity on, partly because of the single track sections and partly because it is a lot busier at the two ends (Aberdeen and Inverness) than it is in the "middle".

 

[mappman1000]

Oh great, I'm travelling between Aberdeen and Inverness next week, but the 1525 departure cannot be that busy, surely as it's a mid afternoon service and a weekday?

I've reserved a seat, but it's still not a pleasant experience when you have a seat and there are people standing all around you.

 

[4SRKT]

Its a difficult service to provide capacity on, partly because of the single track sections and partly because it is a lot busier at the two ends (Aberdeen and Inverness) than it is in the "middle".

Therefore longer trains are the only real answer, as per my post #8.

 

[imagination]

Oh great, I'm travelling between Aberdeen and Inverness next week, but the 1525 departure cannot be that busy, surely as it's a mid afternoon service and a weekday?

I've reserved a seat, but it's still not a pleasant experience when you have a seat and there are people standing all around you.

Every train from Aberdeen to Inverness is busy. No exceptions. That's why I always take care to not get the Inverness trains if I'm going to Dyce or Inverurie. Though that one shouldn't be full to standing, it was a good idea to reserve a seat.

First class is a bit of a joke with them in all honesty - not really worth it unless it is part of a longer journey where you'll be travelling first class the rest of the way.

You can get turbostars sometimes on this line but they're rare, particularly on weekdays.

 

[tbtc]

Therefore longer trains are the only real answer, as per my post #8.

The point I was trying to make is that a longer train would be needed from Aberdeen to Dyce and Inverurie, but only a couple of dozen through Huntly, before getting busier as it approaches Inverness.

Throwing extra coaches at it will sort out the capacity at either end, but it'll be a waste on the "middle" section. And, given the journey time of a couple of hours, thats a long "middle section".

 

[4SRKT]

The point I was trying to make is that a longer train would be needed from Aberdeen to Dyce and Inverurie, but only a couple of dozen through Huntly, before getting busier as it approaches Inverness.

Throwing extra coaches at it will sort out the capacity at either end, but it'll be a waste on the "middle" section. And, given the journey time of a couple of hours, thats a long "middle section".

But it is hardly unusual that a train is busier over some sections than others, that's just the nature of things. You'd need as many coaches to take them on and off at Inverurie and Huntly or Keith, as well as introducing delay and instability.

The point I was making is that given that the service is more or less as it was 25 years ago, at some point somebody must have decided that 6-7 coach loco-hauled could be replaced by 2-car 158s without increasing the frequency. The legacy of that decision lives on to this day, and is a rare example of a service being significantly worse today than all that time ago.

 

[jha4ceb]

Today's 0614 from Aberdeen was made up of 2x 3-car 170s. As someone used to the quantity and quality of stock in the Manchester area, this seemed like a lot -- was it partially a stock movement?

 

[MacCookie]

Today's 0614 from Aberdeen was made up of 2x 3-car 170s. As someone used to the quantity and quality of stock in the Manchester area, this seemed like a lot -- was it partially a stock movement?

The front unit works 06:14 Aberdeen - Inverness all the way through, the rear unit comes off at Inverurie and works south at 07:14 to Glasgow.

Ewan

 

[Butts]

What are Scotrail like for handling complaints - do they dish out vouchers like smarties aka Virgin ?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Could you even be given compensation for a 10 minute 1st class journey?

 

[Butts]

Could you even be given compensation for a 10 minute 1st class journey?

Probably a bit ambitious but the whole point is the journey was NOT 1st Class

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Were you in the designated first class accommodation, and seated there?

 

[Butts]

Were you in the designated first class accommodation, and seated there?

Game Set and Match - yes I was -I'll not deny that so really it would just be a general complaint about the quality of the product

The First Leg of the journey with East Coast from Edinburgh to Aberdeen was fine and minuted elsewhere.

My £13.35 fare was a bargain and I necked almost as much in refreshments.

 

[rail-britain]

Could you even be given compensation for a 10 minute 1st class journey?

For a delay for compensation to be considered the minimum is 30 minutes
However, compensation will be considered for other issues and problems

You would also be entitled to a refund if the train provided should have First Class but does
Personally, I would complain if passengers with standard tickets were being allowed to travel in First Class
Send full details of the incident, including date and train travelled on

In my experience ScotRail are more favourable with their compensation claims
Virgin Trains were the slowest to respond, although they do send an initial letter that they are investigating

 

[150222]

Sorry to bring back an old thread.
I heard that an evening peak service ex-Aberdeen is now a 7-car train (2x158 and 1x170) as far as Inverurie (5 car from there to Inverness). Is this true and has it helped alleviate overcrowding?

 

[scotsman]

In my experience ScotRail are more favourable with their compensation claims Virgin Trains were the slowest to respond, although they do send an initial letter that they are investigating

Not the experience I had. In my experience they tended to be largely ignorant of their own policies, station facilities,the NRCoC, and the facts in general.

 

[williamn]

I'm not sure about the entire length of line but the Southern end, Inverurie - Aberdeen certainly has a LOT more trains than 20 years ago.