Thousands of Big Weekend attendees are concerned about how they’ll get home after Scotrail refused to confirm times for additional late-night trains.
Extra trains will be running between Dundee and Aberdeen, Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street, but the operator won’t be advertising times for those services.
One music fan, who is travelling down from Aberdeen, said: “I am hoping to get the train back home on Saturday night but how are you supposed to plan this if Scotrail won’t advertise train times – that’s just crazy.
“They also won’t take advance bookings – it’s going to be a case of turning up at Dundee Railway Station and hoping for the best – I’m really worried it’s going to be a free for all and a disaster and people end up stranded in Dundee.”
We're not accepting bookings for services other than those in the schedule. Additional services are first come, first served. ^Angus
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) May 25, 2023
‘It’s crazy they won’t tell us train times’ for Big Weekend
One train traveller said: “How are we supposed to plan travel back if you aren’t telling us the time of the service.”
Another, having asked the time of the last train back to Glasgow was told that Scotrail were still “finalising plans” for Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
A spokesman for Scotrail said: “As is the case with the vast majority of large events, we don’t advertise timings of additional extra services which will run beyond the normal timetable as it allows us to manage queues more efficiently.
“The key thing is that there is additional late night services towards Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen.
“Customers should head back to Dundee station as soon as they can when the event ends and join the appropriate queue. We’ll have extra staff on hand to direct them.”
Scotrail advice for festival-goers
Meantime Scotrail are asking travellers to plan ahead and allow additional time for travel as services are expected to be busy, and queuing systems may be in place at key stations across the country.
They are advising people that buying return tickets in advance via the mTicket system on the ScotRail app will help journeys run smoothly.
“Our mTickets system means you can buy tickets from the comfort of your home or on the way to the station and it will instantly become available on your mobile device.
“As with all large events, we’ll extra staff will be on hand to assist you, and please remember that the carrying and consumption of alcohol is prohibited on our trains and in our stations.”
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