A new timetable offering hourly trains from Invergowrie to Perth was littered with “unacceptable” cancellations on its first day of use.
Trains will run on the hour, beginning at Glasgow Queen Street and stopping at Dundee but drivers with the ASLEF union have been striking over pay and the service across the country has suffered from multiple cancelled trains.
Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth said the driver shortages were causing “significant disruption” across the network.
Scotrail apologised, saying: “This is something experienced by all operators across Britain.”
Just the day before, Cllr Alasdair Bailey of the Carse of Gowrie ward celebrated the coming of a regular stop at Invergowrie : "It's wonderful to see trains calling every hour at Invergowrie again. This is fantastic for anyone in Invergowrie who needs to get to Dundee or Perth because the train is much faster than the car at six minutes to Dundee and 18 minutes to Perth.
"What's more, the trains continue direct to Glasgow and Stirling which is going to be great for days out and work alike."
Cllr Bailey circulated the new timetable to his social media followers on Sunday - the day before the changes.
But soon after it was the timetable was posted up to view online, it became clear that not all services would run on Monday, May 16.
Within minutes a reply arrived from a frustrated local traveller, complaining two trains going from Perth to Invergowrie were not running.
ScotRail, which was nationalised last month, has apologised to customers for the disruption.
Last weekend driver shortages affected 110 services.
David Simpson, ScotRail service delivery director, said: “We are experiencing a driver shortage, which means some services will be cancelled.
“We are very sorry for the disruption and inconvenience this will cause and understand customer frustration when this happens.
“If you’re travelling on the ScotRail network, please check your journey before travel by downloading the ScotRail app or visiting scotrail.co.uk”
Mr Simpson continued to explain the situation: “Unfortunately, since the drivers’ union ASLEF announced it would ballot for strike action, a significant number of drivers, but not all, have declined to make themselves available for overtime or rest day working.
“While rest day working is entirely voluntary this does mean we do not have the number of drivers available to operate the full timetable.
“We are currently reliant on drivers working overtime or on their rest days because of delays to training new drivers caused by the pandemic. This is something experienced by all operators across Britain.”
MSP Liz Smith added: “Clearly there are very serious problems here and it is little wonder the public is so upset by the cancellations.
“Efficient train services are not just important for improving connectivity but for ensuring more of us are tempted to leave our cars at home to promote a greener option.
“It is simply unacceptable that this is happening.”
The delay-hit service yesterday saw both the 9.08am leaving Glasgow Queen street to Dundee and the 11.11am, also from Glasgow, were cancelled in the morning.
The 9.08am service from Glasgow should have left Perth at 10.21am and got to Invergowrie for 10.38am, but passengers had to make new plans as no train was coming.
The second missing service through Perthshire, the 11.11am, should have reached Perth at 12.22pm and arrived at Invergowrie at 12.40pm, but again, customers had to seek alternative travel options.
Later yesterday the 2.41pm and the 7.44pm trains going from Invergowrie to Dundee were cancelled too, with driver shortages blamed by the operator.
Making travellers in the other direction fume, the reverse route from Invergowrie to Perth had two scheduled services missing yesterday, day one of the new schedule.
And the 11.21am from Dundee to Glasgow was cancelled, as was the 3.15pm train, giving Perthshire commuters a headache.Those new hourly trains to/from Invergowrie start tomorrow (Monday). I've put a comment on the news below and also am happy to corralle some locals for a photo one day this week if useful. However, the previous photos might be enough (I think the PA covered the announcement of these new trains late last summer).
"It's wonderful to see trains calling every hour at Invergowrie again. This is fantastic for anyone in Invergowrie who needs to get to Dundee or Perth because the train is much faster than the car at 6 minutes to Dundee and 18 minutes to Perth. What's more, the trains continue direct to Glasgow and Stirling which is going to be great for days out and work alike!
Hopefully this is the start of a rail renaissance for Invergowrie. If people use this train as much as I think they will, this secures the future of Invergowrie station for the long term.
I was also happy to hear that there are plans afoot to electrify the line in the coming years which will mean faster but quieter trains come our way in the not-too-distant future."
