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Warning of late night drinking on Inverness-Aberdeen train





Rail police will not tolerate alcohol-fuelled incidents.
Rail police will not tolerate alcohol-fuelled incidents.

Saturday night passengers on the last train from Inverness to Aberdeen may have noticed an increased British Transport Police (BTP) presence recently.

Following complaints from passengers and on-train staff about alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour, BTP is now warning those travelling on the 9.33pm service between the Highland capital and stations in Morayshire that their rowdiness won’t be tolerated.

Sergeant Kevin Lawrence, the BTP officer in charge at Inverness, said: “Staff have reported being subjected to verbal abuse by people, mostly from Elgin or Keith, who appear to have spent the day or evening in Inverness, and been told that they can’t continue to drink on the train due to ScotRail’s policy which restricts the sale and consumption of alcohol."

On Saturday, 13 June, a 35-year-old local man was arrested and has been reported to the Procurator Fiscal following his alleged threatening behaviour towards two women as he left the train at Elgin station.

Sergeant Lawrence concluded: “This is usually a busy service and other passengers and rail staff should be able to travel and work without encountering the unwelcome behaviour of people under the influence of alcohol.

“Railway byelaws exist for this very purpose and anyone found to be unfit through alcohol can be refused travel by the train operator or removed from the service.

“BTP and ScotRail don’t want to spoil anyone’s evening but it would be a real shame to end your night out being reported for an offence. BTP officers will be working closely with ScotRail and colleagues in Police Scotland to monitor the behaviour of those travelling on this service.”

Jacqueline Taggart, ScotRail’s customer experience director, said: “We work very closely with BTP to make sure our customers can enjoy a pleasant journey, and our policy restricting the purchase and consumption of alcohol is an important factor in ensuring comfortable journeys for all.

“Our alcohol ban is in place between 9pm and 10am, and customers should not visibly carry alcohol during these times, whether it is opened or not.”


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