SCOTRAIL has agreed to put on additional carriages to ease overcrowding on evening peak time services to Dumbarton and Balloch, following months of campaigning from MSP Jackie Baillie.

The Scottish Labour MSP had written to the Transport Minister and Scotrail several times this year to complain about the dangerous level of overcrowding on some rush hour services on the Airdrie to Balloch line.

In the latest complaint Ms Baillie demanded to know how long local passengers would have to wait before Scotrail takes action to reduce overcrowding after a constituent said the 17.19 service between Partick and Balloch was ‘continually’ jammed.

Scotrail has finally confirmed in writing that the service, and other trains from Airdrie and Balloch around that time, will be upgraded from three carriages to six carriages in December.

Ms Baillie said: “It should not have taken so long for Scotrail to take action to address overcrowding but I am pleased that they have finally listened to local passengers’ demands.

“This change only happened because local passengers kept the pressure on Scotrail and I am grateful to everyone who contacted me by email and on social media to raise their concerns.

“The Airdrie-Balloch line is one of the top 10 most overcrowded services in Scotland and ScotRail's announcement is very welcome indeed and commuters will be pleased that all rush hour trains will revert back to six carriages.

“Too many local passengers are waiting on late running services, if they turn up at all, paying over inflated fares on overcrowded trains. That’s why I will continue to campaign for a not-for-profit People’s Scotrail, a railway company whose commitment is not to shareholders abroad, but to passengers in Scotland.”

Perry Ramsey, operations director at ScotRail Alliance said: “We do monitor the passenger loadings of all services across the network on a regular basis and use the information to determine how to make the best use of the resources we have.

“The good news is that from the next timetable change in December, the train will run with six coaches.”

In other news the ScotRail Alliance are to invest millions of pounds to keep people moving during autumn, as it undertakes a major push to deal with the very real safety risks caused by leaves on the line.

With much of Scotland's railway lined by trees, a common cause of disruption during autumn is leaves falling on the line.

A build-up of leaves results in a slippery layer forming on the tracks.

This can be dangerous, causing trains to skid and overshoot signals and platforms - potentially putting passengers and staff in danger.

As a result, drivers must accelerate and brake gently.

This causes services to go slower than normal and can result in disruption for customers.

Leaf debris can also interfere with the signalling systems, making it difficult to track trains on the network.

Led by Network Rail, from the middle of October the autumn campaign will include £2.6million invested in clearing the tracks, 11 leaf fall teams, totalling 30 staff based at locations across Scotland including in Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Tayside, the Borders and Fife, a fleet of seven specialist treatment trains designed to clear leaf debris and spray lines with a glue-like coating to help train wheels grip the tracks, treatment trains covering an average of 1,500 miles a day and up to 7,200 staff hours dedicated to clearing the line.

David Dickson, infrastructure director for the ScotRail Alliance, said: “We are working hard to build the best railway Scotland has ever had, and part of that is keeping people moving during autumn when the weather can create major safety risks.

“We know few things annoy customers more than when their train is delayed because of leaves on the line.

“People are always a bit sceptical, but the reality is that leaves on the line can be dangerous and lead to disruption.

“The ScotRail Alliance is investing millions of pounds and pulling out all the stops to tackle this problem over the coming months.”