The perils of

travelling by train

in Scotland

 

Glasgow Central Station, 2am, and no-one's causing trouble on
the trains for a change
Photograph by Islay McLeod

 

The editor and deputy editor wrote on Tuesday of separate disturbing experiences by train last weekend. We have received the following
responses from readers

 

Sic Inglorious Transit

Locked in on the train with
Day/Night Males
Our trip unsafe for
some Jock Tamson’s Bairns
One big Un-
happy Royle Scots Family
in need of healing.

How heal?
 
I
Stand up
But do not leave the carriage:
Instead invite great Hamish in,
Call all to be
At hame wi freedom
All, at hame with freedom
 
II
Say yes, I hear you say
There's something wrong,
Your talk is sick and sickens me.
So let's
Bring on some male nurse
person artists:
Call out Ginsberg – Naomi's Kaddish son –
Queer shoulder to his nation's wheel;
Call out Whitman, cradler of men,
Presidential death train hymner;
Call out Love, call John MacMurray,
Shrapnel-cheeked ex-orderly,
Nursing's midwife, Edinburgh U.
 
III
Oh nation in the dark train tunnel
Ask not 'Do you agree
That Scotland should
an independent nation be?'
till you have asked, each of each,
On whom the homophobe, the anti-chanters –
On whom  all other Otherers –
Depend?

Steve Tilley

 

SR's revelations on train travel in Scotland (31 January) were ghastly.  I remember a similar experience on the Kilmarnock train, and, although my blood was boiling, I was too afraid to say anything. 
     I've never ever felt intimidated travelling on a London train or underground, even when I'm travelling alone after midnight. Perhaps if we tell these morons that the English are better behaved, in their pathetic, racist little way they'd try to outdo them.
     Alternatively, we should campaign for policing on the trains to sort it out before they take over. I'm horrified to think that this bad behaviour is forcing people to seek alternative means of transport, as for some people it is the only option.
     PS  Did you know that 'sick' also means good/cool/awesome? Whatever next? (showing my age)

Alison Hemmings

 

Few people in Scotland will have been surprised by Kenneth Roy and islay McLeod's experiences on the train last weekend. These young individuals will probably have behaved similarly – though not quite as badly – at school and in their home neighbourhoods for many years.
     While the Scottish establishment discusses constitutional issues for the next two years, as it has done for much of the last 40 years, these problems will continue to make life a misery for much of Scotland's population.
     As Shakespeare said, the fault lies in ourselves.

John Scott

 

Having just read the pieces on having terrible experiences travelling by train in Scotland, I can fully sympathise.
     I lived in Yorkshire for six years and returned to Scotland at least once a month for all six years, travelling by train on the east coast line between Northallerton and Edinburgh. I always looked forward to my journeys and either managed to write or read a book. After moving to Edinburgh six months ago, I began travelling regularly by train to Stirling to visit my sons. I have been disgusted by many of the journeys and what I see and hear from other passengers – often very threatening behaviour.
     Why is it that a section of Scottish society see other train travellers as a captive audience to display vitriol and hatred towards? I have also started travelling regularly by bus but rarely see such behaviour. Are such problems found elsewhere in the UK? My own experience tends to show that this awful behaviour is commonplace in Scotland.

Hazel Cameron

 

What is the point of British Transport Police? Where, indeed, are they? What hiding places have they discovered so thay they might never inconvenience themselves with dealing with unseemly matters concerning an embittered travelling public?
     It is surely reasonable that if a person buys a ticket to travel on Scotrail, the company should make some endeavour to ensure the journey is a safe and comfortable one. That, it seems, might only be possible if a pair of uniformed cops were to travel on trains and ensure a visible presence by moving up and down the carriages. Too radical?

Barney MacFarlane