By Hugh Boag
Train passengers who were left stranded at Ardrossan when an Arran ferry left without them have demanded action to prevent this happening again.
Alterations to the ScotRail timetable and route to Ardrossan from Glasgow earlier this year has led to shortened times to catch the ferry. There have also been instances of ferry passengers missing the train at Ardrossan because of the changes.
However, the situation came to a head last Wednesday, December 6, when more than a dozen passengers, including a baby, arriving off the 2.15pm train from Glasgow aiming to catch the 3.20pm sailing from Ardrossan were left high and dry.
And it has emerged that just minutes caused the passengers to miss the boat with the train arriving 4 minutes late, and the ferry leaving 4 minutes early.
When they arrived at the ferry terminal they found the gangway up but the MV Caledonian Isles still tied up in port. But despite pleas from passengers with the CalMac port staff and vessel crew the ferry finished her preparations and sailed off without them leaving them with a near three hour wait for the next ferry.
There have been some minor, but crucial alterations to the train timetable leaving less time between the train arriving and the ferry leaving and the reverse. The route of the Glasgow to Ardrossan train has also been altered and now stops at Glengarnock, Lochwinnoch and Howood, as well as the other stations, which makes the trip slightly longer
However one angry passenger said: “The train times are advertised on the CalMac timetable as the ones to meet the ferry. I cannot understand why the ferry would leave early when quite clearly the port staff knew there was a train coming and could clearly see the passengers hurrying to the terminal.”
“Surely CalMac and ScotRail could sit round the table and come up with a connectivity plan. ScotRail used to have a slogan about ‘joined up journeys’, we could use some of that thinking now.”
CalMac this week confirmed the the boat left at 3.16pm and said the gangway was up and the vessel was secure to depart before the train passengers arrived.
A CalMac spokeswoman said: “We recognise the importance of well-timed transport connections for our customers, and our port staff and vessel crews are happy to assist whenever there is a delay with a particular connection. Unfortunately, on this occasion, there was not enough time for the people leaving the train to board the ferry once safety procedures had begun.
“We regularly communicate with other transport operators to maximise these connections whenever possible,” she added.
ScotRail confirmed that the train which had been due to arrive at 3.06pm was 4 minutes late adding that this still left 10 minutes connection time till the scheduled departure of the ferry.
A ScotRail spokesman said: “The ScotRail service in Ayrshire operates to a regular pattern every hour through most of the day. The ferry service doesn’t follow a regular pattern, so it is always a challenge to align every ferry with every train – but we work with CalMac to ensure connections are as good as they can possibly be, taking account of all the constraints on both operators.”
The MV Caledonian Isles was still tied up in Ardrossan harbour when the train passengers arrived. 01_B06harbour01 (from library)