Angry rugby fans kick up a row over match train chaos

FURIOUS rugby fans have swamped train bosses with complaints after scenes of chaos before and after a rugby international.

ScotRail has been inundated with complaints from supporters who claim there weren’t enough trains to take them to and from Sunday’s Scotland-New Zealand international at Murrayfield.

It is believed hundreds of passengers were left stranded on platforms, with some forced to sit on carriage floors.

An insider said: “Thousands of fans came streaming out of the game to find themselves confronted with a third world train service. I’m surprised there weren’t people clinging to the roof of some of the ­carriages.”

The complaints from fans left loco by inadequate train services came after Scotland’s 22-51 defeat by the All Blacks and ahead of a tie with South Africa on Saturday.

Father-of-two Kevin Calder, 30, who was taking his son to Murrayfield as a birthday present, said: “It was chaos, a farce, shambolic.”

The heating engineer from Uphall Station, in West Lothian, said he and nine-year-old Finlay wanted to get to the stadium in good time for the 2.30pm kick-off to enjoy the pre-match atmosphere.

But their plans were derailed when they waited an extra 30 minutes after the 1.14pm train arrived with only three carriages and “rammed to the rafters”.

“My feeling at that point was disbelief,” he said. “It does not take a genius to work out that there would be more people on the trains than usual.”

Mr Calder said he was terrified he and his son would miss the start of the match.

“In the end we got there minutes before kick-off – in time for the national anthem,” he said. “I was annoyed because I was taking my boy to his first Scotland match and wanted him to get the full build-up ­before the match.”

Other rugby fans took to Facebook to slam train conditions.

Dara Walker Hay said her daughter had to sit on the floor of the carriage for the return journey from Edinburgh to Aberdeen. She posted: “First time for her experiencing a train journey on her own. Thirty pounds to sit on the floor? Standards have dropped!”

The chaos came after city bosses agreed to lift tram barriers temporarily so 40,000 fans could make their way through the West End more easily.

ScotRail bosses insisted extra staff and carriages had been drafted in.

A spokesman said: “We knew Haymarket services would be busy before and after the game and had advised customers to allow extra travel time.

“We provided extra staff and additional carriages on the vast majority of rugby trains to help manage the unprecedented demand for the autumn international at Murrayfield.”