TWO major rail companies are in talks amid fears that West Fife passengers are getting a raw deal.

CrossCountry have said they will speak with ScotRail urgently to discuss Fife services after Mark Ruskell, Green MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, voiced his concerns over direct services in the area being cut.

Mr Ruskell said: “This is welcome news from CrossCountry, given that the combined impact of ScoRail’s new timetable and the withdrawal of CrossCountry services has had a significant impact on my constituents in Fife.

"Every single person in Scotland deserves affordable, reliable and accessible public transport services regardless of where they live – and I hope that these talks will bring real progress in improving rail connectivity in Fife."

Services calling at Inverkeithing and five other Fife stations were cut last month, which means that there are no high-speed services to Edinburgh or Aberdeen and those wanting to go further afield will need to travel as far as Dundee or the capital before they can get a direct train.

"Nothing short of a full restoration of the CrossCountry services in Fife will be acceptable in the months to come. Fife needs its intercity connections and all the timetable changes have done is to drive more people onto climate-wrecking short-haul flights,” Mr Ruskell added.

A CrossCountry spokesperson said: “Like many operators, we are currently developing our future timetable to deliver a balanced and resilient long-distance intercity service with the resources available to us.

"As part of this process, we are working with the DfT and Transport Scotland to ensure we are offering the best overall service, whilst reflecting the change in consumer habits and demand for long-distance journeys in the longer-term.

"We remain in talks with ScotRail to understand how we can in the short term, whilst they are operating a much reduced timetable.”

ScotRail were approached by the Press but declined to comment as they insisted the concerns were with CrossCountry.