Irvine train station: ScotRail apologise as shelter remains closed

The indoor shelter on platform 1 at the station, where commuters catch services to Kilwinning, Paisley and Glasgow, has been shut for more than a year.

ScotRail says the closure is due to the need for repairs following water damage to the structure - but now one disgruntled commuter has now had enough.

The commuter, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Times: "It has been now over one year that the room is closed. It said on the door 'out of order'.

"I have written to the train station more than once in regards of the matter without getting any answer.

"Now the weather is very cold and that room would be good to shelter people waiting for the train on a daily basis like myself."

What made them all the more frustrated was that the waiting room's inside light has been left on throughout the closure period.

"I also don’t understand with the current issues we all are facing such as increasingly high energy bills, why the out of order room has a light on inside," the Times' source continued.

"Is it not a waste of money?"

When the Times contacted ScotRail, they apologised for the closure and said the repair would be carried out "as soon as possible".

Phil Campbell, ScotRail's head of customer operations, said: “We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused to customers at Irvine station while the platform shelter has not been available for use.

“We’re working with Network Rail to repair water damage to the roof and ceiling as soon as possible.”

According to official figures published by the rail industry regulator, the Office of Rail and Road, 422,436 people are estimated to have used Irvine station in the year to March 2022 - the most recent for which figures are available.

That represented a 287 per cent increase on the previous 12 months - for much of which passenger numbers dropped dramatically because of the pandemic.

The figure for the year to March 2022 is 50 per cent lower than that for the pre-Covid year to March 2020