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Daily Record
Politics
Peter Davidson

'Fans prefer to walk' SNP minister confirms no replacement buses for Scotland fans amid rail chaos

An SNP minister has been accused of telling Scotland fans to walk from Hampden to Glasgow city centre after the Armenia game tonight due to train cancellations.

Transport minister Jenny Gilruth suggested supporters "prefer to walk back to the city centre" following matches at the national stadium.

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Gilruth said no replacement buses would be put on for supporters following the game.

It came after ScotRail urged fans to leave the game early in order to catch the last train from Mount Florida to Glasgow Central.

The last service to the city centre is set to leave at 8.46pm - before the referee blows the final whistle.

Around 700 services have been cancelled due to a pay dispute between ScotRail and the train drivers union Aslef.

Drivers are refusing to work on rest days which has crippled the network.

Gilruth said: "ScotRail have advised that there is not sufficient bus capacity available to support transport of the crowds from Hampden to Glasgow that a high-capacity rail service would accommodate.

"And replacement buses are procured to substitute for planned or unplanned disruption, leaving no gaps in relation to the reduced timetable.

"But, to do so across the network at the current time would require an enormous fleet of buses at significant expense."

“Traditionally, ScotRail do carry far more Scotland supporters to Hampden Games than return. Approximately, 7,000 fans travelled to the Ukraine match last week and only 2,500 travelled back as generally fans prefer to walk back to the city centre.

"It’s also worth saying that the crowd tonight is expected to be far smaller than the Ukraine game."

Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson accused Gilruth of telling fans to walk back to the city centre.

He said: "Well, my word. So the minister’s answer to football fans tonight is ‘walk’. Walk to the city centre.

"That’s her answer because there’s nothing, there’s no other alternative, unless you’ve taken your own car."

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