ScotRail was forced to fork out for an Edinburgh student's four hour taxi ride after he was stranded due to ongoing timetable chaos.
Jack Boag, 21, was due to travel from Edinburgh to Mallaig after flying into the capital from a debating conference, but after arriving in the city soon learned his train home was cancelled.
Following the chaos, the passenger was forced to spend the night in Glasgow before travelling the next day.
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His bad luck continued after the 12.20pm service he was due to get from Queen Street to Oban was also cancelled cancelled, with the Mallaig portion starting at Crianlarich.
There was a rail replacement bus running direct to Crianlarich, but because Jack was staying in Partick he travelled to Dalmuir and connected onto the West Highland Line.
From Dalmuir, the 21-year-old was put in a ScotRail funded taxi to Fort William to try and catch the train - but missed it by minutes.
As there were no other services, the only option was to get another three hour taxi from Fort William to Mallaig.
The student eventually arrived at 6.30pm on May 31 to his destination after a 140 mile trip spent in the back of a taxi.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, the student said: "I arrived after 6pm yesterday to Mallaig where my mum lives.
"I was at a university debating event in Utrecht, and flew back from Eindhoven into Edinburgh on Monday morning.
"It was then I realised they had cancelled all the evening trains to Mallaig, so I had to spend the night in Glasgow or Edinburgh.
"I stayed with a friend in Partick, then travelled to Dalmuir the next day to catch the train.
"From Dalmuir, it was first arranged for me to get a taxi to Fort William to get a connecting train but I missed it by about ten minutes, which was not great."
He continued: "It was one whole mess, I took two taxis one for three hours with a guy was solid for small talk, and another for 90 minutes with a guy who was dead silent.
"The Dalmuir to Fort William taxi was approximately three hours, I left Dalmuir at 1pm and got to Fort William at 4.30pm to try and catch the onward connecting train.
"It's not the first time I have been in a taxi paid for by ScotRail for a long journey.
"Before the timetable changes there were only three trains in and out of Mallaig a day, now it's gone down to two trains.
"The whole thing is chaos, but I am used to it by now."
ScotRail explained that they needed to introduce a temporary timetable at short notice to tackle an unacceptable number of cancellations.
But added It wasn’t possible to thoroughly analyse the impact on specific areas throughout the country including some Highland destinations that have been left with just two services a day.
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David Simpson, ScotRail Service Delivery Director, said: “We’re sorry to our customers for the disruption they are facing as a result of the reduction in services, and we share their frustration.
“We’re keen to resolve the dispute as soon as possible and the timetable will operate for as long as it needs to in order to provide a more dependable service.
“The timetable is being regularly reviewed and we were able to add some additional late-night services last weekend, to help to keep customers moving.
"We advise customers to check their journey before they travel."
