TSSA welcomes ScotRail scrapping High Speed Trains

Rail union TSSA has welcomed the announcement that ScotRail is to withdraw all High Speed Trains (HSTs) from service following a long campaign by the union.  

The High Speed Train (HST) fleet which operates on its InterCity routes between Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness dates from half a century ago. TSSA has long called for the trains to be removed from service. 

The union expressed multiple concerns, not least after the Stonehaven derailment of 2020 in which three people died. TSSA raised the alarm after the RAIB report considered whether “significant areas of corrosion” in damaged areas of the train’s carriages had been a factor in the tragedy.

Commenting on today’s announcement, TSSA General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust said: “We are pleased the Scottish government has at long last concluded that HSTs are not fit for purpose on our railways.  

“These trains really are museum pieces and that is where they belong. Our focus is, and always will be, on the safety of Scotland’s rail passengers and workers.  

“For that reason we will make sure our union works with Ministers at Holyrood to ensure that the replacement of these trains meets the proper standards and will help provide the railways Scotland needs for the future.”