Use of Request-Stop Buttons

On Monday 16 October I was at Culrain wishing to board the 18:44 train to Tain. The display advised that the train was 23 minutes late, expected at 19:07 (the old system advised that it was expected at 18:44, but next day I observed that that was now blank). I pressed the button. By memory I got a message that the advice was valid for 20 minutes. Certainly at the end of 20 minutes the display started flashing, and I pressed the button a second time and was given the message that the driver had been advised. So, if a train is more than 20 minutes late, you have to press the button twice.

Situation at Altnabreac

On Tuesday 17 October I went to Altnabreac, and from there walked to Loch Dhu. It was a gloriously sunny day, and warm! While on the walk I met a man on a quad-bike, and we had a long conversation. It turned out the man was the owner of Lochdhu Lodge (formerly a hotel). As well as owning the big house, he also owned three cottages on the south side of Sleach Water. At one time his wife (now his ex-wife) owned the house at the station, but she sold the house to what he classed as "difficult people". He went on to tell me that recently [actually in March] a "cavalcade of vans" came to install a request-stop kiosk on Altnabreac station. However the residents of the station house objected and quoted passages from The Bible at the contractors, who then left without doing any work, and thus hand signals to the driver are still necessary. He warned me that when I went back to the station I should have no contact with them. When I did go back to the station to catch the 13:34 train they were chopping wood, and the man remarked about the fine weather.

Work at Lairg

On passing through Lairg I noticed that the oil storage tanks have gone, and also all the associated pipework. However contractors were building some new installation which appears to be using a rail track: a facility for timber?

On-going Problem With CIS System

One day I was going on the 11:10 train to Inverness. The screen said "Expt 11:14". But at 11:10 the screen immediately changed to information about the next train at 15:46. Some women standing by looked very puzzled and said "Does that mean that the train has been cancelled?". For irregular users of trains this situation is very confusing. ScotRail really needs to do something about this.

Experiences on Thursday 19, Friday 20 and Saturday 21 October

On Thursday & Friday all services terminated and started at Tain. The reason, I was told, was the causeway before Ardgay, where in the past during high winds trains had been covered with sea water. Trains ran from Tain at 06:30, 06:59, 09:23, 11:10, 15:46, etc. However while the trains ran (I travelled on the 09:23 ex Tain on the Friday) the CIS displayed the trains, but said they were cancelled. This applied to all the stations before Dingwall. So nobody got on at Invergordon and Alness. I was one of three who had boarded at Tain. But mysteriously the trains correctly appeared on CIS at Dingwall, Conon Bridge etc and people boarded. I came back on the 17:12, and the same thing happened. Once past Dingwall the train was given as cancelled. So I have now travelled twice on a cancelled train! Incidentally trains to Kyle ran on the Friday.

I was due to go home on Saturday 21 October (originally on Friday, but no trains south or east beyond Aviemore/Elgin). On Friday the ScotRail App said that I could go home on Saturday, but with a RRB (rail replacement bus) from Tain at 09:03. On Friday/Saturday night there was a deluge, and the RRBs were cancelled (the ScotRail App now told me I could go home with a RRB on Sunday). However Stagecoach did not cancel their buses. So I caught the No 25 from Tain P.O. at 09:33 and got to Inverness where I found that the 12:45 train to Edinburgh was running. But that Stagecoach bus journey was incredible - the young woman driver charged along: it was more like being on a boat - until Evanton waves more or less continuously overwhelmed the bus. So perhaps you could understand ScotRail cancelling their RRBs - but thankfully for me Stagecoach kept going. The bus fare was £12.00 - almost worth it for the entertainment value!