Excellent news. The world, at least north of the border, is set to become a safer place following the announcement by Scotrail that henceforth its passengers will no longer be allowed to carry firearms on its trains. Apparently prompted by an incident in which a shotgun was left in a carriage, Scotrail appears unmoved by the fact that the National Rail Conditions of Travel, require operators to allow for guns to be transported anywhere in country. It states that: “unloaded firearms, properly licensed, with prior permission of the train company and carried in accordance with the law and any other specific instructions”.
BASC meanwhile has written to Scotrail’s chief, Alex Hynes, pointing out that the move risks harming the Scottish rural economy, given the number of game shooters who travel to the country during the course of the season. Unfortunately, such economic lines of argument are likely to fall on uncomprehending ears at the operator’s Glasgow HQ, given that Scotrail is among one of the worse run of the UK’s rail franchises and currently hoovers up more than £150 million of tax payer funded subsidies. Still and all, Scotrail is to be applauded for placing such importance on the safety of its passengers, even if there has never been a single recorded incident of a legally held firearm being misused on its network. Of course this move will offer only modest comfort to those boarding a train given the sharp contrast between that fact and the more than 2000 arrests on the network and countless other incidents involving drunkenness and violence.