Overcrowding leaves rail passengers stranded at Dalmeny station '˜for hours on end'

Passengers say many trains are just three-carriages long instead of the normal six and so tightly-packed that people simply cannot get on.

Edinburgh Western Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton said 100 would-be travellers were left on the platform on Tuesday morning.

A crowded Scotrail train. Pic: @gazzadaz

And now he is demanding an urgent meeting before Christmas with ScotRail bosses over the problem.

Last week the Evening News revealed one Edinburgh business owner had vowed never to employ another rail commuter because a key member of his staff had been repeatedly delayed by ScotRail disruption.

Frustrated passengers have been tweeting ScotRail about the overcrowding. One posted: “Any chance of there being more than 3 carriages for the 07.58 Dalmeny-Edinburgh tomorrow? Trying to squeeze a platform of people into an already full train is no fun for anyone.”

Pic: @gazzadaz

And another said: “No room on the 7.58 for anybody. Some people here have not been able to get on 3 trains since 7.16 and there’s about 70 people left on the platform.”

In his letter to ScotRail managing director Alex Hynes, Mr Cole-Hamilton said he was being contacted every day by people who were left waiting at Dalmeny “sometimes for hours on end”.

He said there appeared to be a chronic under-provision of rolling stock.

And he cited the News story about the reluctance of employers to recruit rail commuters. “Put simply, the failure to deliver an adequate service from Dalmeny is putting the livelihoods of my constituents at risk.”

Mr Cole-Hamilton told the News: “This is an absolute failure of service by ScotRail. It’s like the evacuation of Stalingrad, there are so many people trying to get on and some trains are so overcrowded they just don’t stop.

“People are being left standing at Dalmeny station every morning. This is now at crisis proportions. I’m asking for an urgent meeting before Christmas.”

ScotRail has said once central belt electrification projects are completed and new trains are in service, other trains will be redeployed to the Fife-Edinburgh route, meaning more peak trains of six carriages.

A ScotRail spokesman said: “We know that one of the biggest concerns for our customers is busy trains - we do all that we can to meet demand, which can peak at different times.

“We run over 2400 services every single weekday and every available train we have is out on the network to get our customers where they need to be.”

“Next year, we will begin to redeploy our existing Class 170 trains to Fife and the Borders. These trains will add over 5000 extra seats each day.”