Passengers saved from freezing on coolest railway trip in the world

SHIVERING passengers travelling on one of the world's most scenic railway lines are to come in from the cold with plans to replace internal doors removed after a crash.

Tourists and other travellers on the West Highland lines between Glasgow, Oban and Mallaig have been left freezing on journeys of up to five hours because of icy draughts blowing through the carriages since the doors were taken out.

The lines have twice been voted the most scenic in the world by travel magazine Wanderlust for their breathtaking mountain, loch and coastal views and have achieved a global profile when featured in Harry Potter films as the rail route to school for Harry and his friends

The manually-operated doors were removed by train operator ScotRail following the crash in June last year, in which a carriage toppled on to its side after hitting a fallen boulder near Falls of Cruachan station, by Loch Awe in Argyll.

The Glasgow-Oban train was left dangling over a 50ft drop, with its 60 passengers being led to safety.

The precautionary move came after ScotRail found the doors might impede passengers from escaping from a train in a similar incident.

However, no concerns were raised about the doors in an official report on the accident, published by the UK government's rail accident investigation branch last month.

ScotRail has acted following a barrage of complaints from staff, with some regular passengers even abandoning the route because conditions were so miserable.

The improvements will also benefit freezing commuters elsewhere in Scotland who use the 48-strong fleet of diesel trains, including on lines in Glasgow, East Kilbride and Paisley, and on the Edinburgh-Glasgow route via Shotts.

A spokesman said improvements to the trains' heating systems were also being made and extra training given to maintenance staff.

He said: "We are hopeful the new door design will be approved so that they can be installed this winter."

Doug Carmichael, chairman of the Friends of the West Highland Lines, said: "This is great news for passengers. When ScotRail removed the previous doors, journeys were often made in freezing conditions.

"There were numerous complaints from passengers, who endured not only the cold draughts blowing through from the coaches' vestibules because of the removal of these doors, but also the train heating, which just could not cope with extremely cold conditions.

"Hopefully, these innovations will be an early Christmas present to travellers."

John McCormick, chairman of the Scottish Association for Public Transport, and another regular passenger on the line, said: "This does sound like good news. Removing the doors created a lot of problems, with passengers having to wear scarves, hats, gloves and coats in the train."Anthony Smith, chief executive of watchdog Passenger Focus said: "Obviously passengers want safety first but it is pleasing to hear the new train doors being trialed."