The Friends of the Far North Line
Cairdean Na Loine Tuath
the campaign group for rail north of
Inverness - lobbying for improved services for the local user, tourist and freight
operator
The Far North Line is, among other things, the rail route from Scotland to Orkney, a fact that resonates back 100 years to the Jellicoe Expresses mentioned elsewhere in this issue. The FoFNL committee has been concerned for some time about the lack of promotion of through tickets to Orkney from ScotRail stations.
We contacted ScotRail Client & Communication Manager Rob Shorthouse asking him to clarify the current arrangements for, and availability of, through tickets from ScotRail stations to Orkney. We also mentioned that asking about the tickets in Glasgow Queen Street and Inverness stations had drawn a blank and told him that details of the offer appears differently on the National Rail website from those on the ScotRail site.
We received an almost immediate reply from Rob saying that our enquiry had prompted a look at staff awareness and available information and a briefing note will be sent to staff about the tickets.
He included a note summarizing the offer:
"ScotRail offers a range of Rail & Sail tickets to Orkney, allowing you to buy rail and ferry travel all in one transaction, and avoiding the hassle of time consuming airport transfers. We offer Rail & Sail tickets as follows:
You can get more information on these and other Rail & Sail tickets on this page of the ScotRail website"