SCOTRAIL'S boss believes the end is in sight to the turmoil on the Borders Railway.

Speaking at a public meeting in Galashiels yesterday, Alex Hynes admitted the service has not been good enough.

Over the last few months commuters have faced a number of cancellations on the Tweedbank to Edinburgh line due to staff shortages, as drivers are trained to operate new high speed trains.

But Mr Hynes said passengers will soon see more carriages and more reliability, as the training courses come to an end.

He told the meeting of the Borders Railway Community Partnership: "The service we have delivered to our customers has fallen well below the level they expect and we take full responsibility for that.

"There are a number of reasons for that, which have been well publicised, but we are focused on working flat out to resolve this train backlog we have had.

"Every single day we are having to make difficult decisions to cancel trains.

"We are training our Edinburgh drivers on the new high speed trains and that will be completed by the end of May.

"From my perspective, my priorities are threefold.

"Number one is we have to improve the service on the Borders Railway. Now. That is an urgent task. It is the top of my priorities.

"Secondly, we need to deliver more carriages. That starts next month. We will see more capacity on the Borders Railway as our new rolling stock fleets arrive here in Scotland.

"Thirdly, we need to work with the Scottish Government to see what we can do next to deliver a bigger and better railway for the Borders."

Mr Hynes also told the meeting that the demand for the Borders Railway is increasing.

He said: "In year one we saw five per cent passenger growth; between years two and three that grew to 10 per cent. Even despite the challenges we have faced in recent months, the demand for the Borders Railway is absolutely huge.

"Once we get all of our high speed trains into service, that will enable us to provide more trains in the peak periods.

"When we opened the railway there were about 950 seats going up to Edinburgh in each peak period.

"Today, that's 1,100 seats in and out of Edinburgh and that will grow to 1,400 seats once we have all the trains into service.

"By putting more class 170, three carriage trains on the line that will enable us to provide more comfort, more reliability and more capacity for this bit of the railway network which is so badly needed."