Ticket machine promised for Alloa

There are currently no ticketing facilities at Alloa's new station

A ticket vending machine is to be installed at Alloa rail station.

First Scotrail said the machine would be operational within three weeks for those using the Alloa to Stirling line.

The move follows criticism from travellers who were forced to endure lengthy queues in Stirling because of a lack of ticketing facilities at Alloa.

The company said the popularity of the route, which is currently attracting over 8,000 people a week, had exceeded their expectations.

When the service was launched on 19 May, First Scotrail had intended passengers boarding at Alloa to purchase tickets on the train.

'Good news'

But the brevity of the eight-and-a-half-minute journey and the popularity of the route left conductors unable to sell tickets to all those needing them.

As a result, dozens of disembarking passengers at Stirling have been forced to queue for up to half an hour for tickets.

Ochil MP Gordon Banks said he had been assured by First Scotrail that extra staff would be employed at Stirling to ensure customers were not kept waiting for tickets.

He said: "Scotrail conceded this was an oversight on their behalf and were overwhelmed by the usage of the service with over 8,500 people using the service in the first two weeks.

"As well as making a commitment to supply a ticket machine at Alloa within the next three weeks they also made a commitment to supply extra staff at Stirling to cope with the demand in the intervening period."

A spokesman for First Scotrail said: "We pledged to resolve ticketing issues and this is the result.

"It is good news that so many people want to use the service and underpins the growing demand for rail travel."

The new stretch of track, which runs from Stirling to Alloa, with freight services to Kincardine, cost more than �85m.

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