Letter: Bikes misery

The situation with bikes on First ScotRail trains continues to be two steps back for every one forward.

I journeyed last week using three ScotRail trains between Stirling and Linlithgow at the end of a four-day tour and discovered the indicated bicycle accommodation on these particular First ScotRail 158s does not in practice accept more than one cycle rather than the indicated two.

The actual bike compartment is narrow, is confined by an interior floor-to-ceiling panel and has no bike anchoring points. It would be a miracle man who could manage to pack two bikes into this space without damaging one or both.

On all three train journeys last week, ScotRail staff allocated one bike in the cycle space, with the other consigned to the disabled area abutting passenger seats. But there, the length of a bike is too large for the disabled area, and positioning a bike here really does inconvenience seated passengers.

The real surprise is that, 21 years on from their launch, trains of this quality are still allowed on Scotland's railway.

GORDON CASELY

Hill Street

Aberdeen