RAIL bosses have been slammed after their website sent ticket buyers round the bend.

Angry locals hoping for an early seat aboard the new Borders Rail trains were charged three-times the announced cost for a fare.

And new stations on the line at Stow and Tweedbank were not recognised by the ScotRail site.

The route went live at the weekend on the ticket-buying website.

But passengers were being asked for £30 for a Galashiels-to-Edinburgh ticket - not £10 as had previously been advertised.

A spokeswoman for ScotRail said: “The £30 fare is not a Borders Railway or ScotRail fare. It is for a journey via Berwick, and not for travel on the new Borders Railway line.

“The correct fares between Edinburgh and Tweedbank will be in the system by the end of this week, and we will update customers as soon as they are available.” The £30 fare being quoted between Edinburgh Waverley and Galashiels was for a journey involving an East Coast or Cross Country train to Berwick-upon-Tweed from Waverley, and then a bus to Galashiels.

Operators explained that the route is a valid fare and cannot be removed from the system.

But the computer glitch hasn’t gone down well with local passengers or politicians Local MSP Christine Grahame told us: “The return of the railway is a great thing for the Borders and Midlothian – it will prove to be a huge boost for the local economy.

“However, less than three months before the first passengers travel on the line, Scotrail’s reputation has suffered as a result of this ticketing fiasco. “The prices shown on the website when tickets first went up for sale are in some cases three times the prices people were expecting. The website even failed to recognise Tweedbank as a station!

“I have now contacted Scotrail to get answers on this and to find out when the correct fare information would be available on their website. “I am assured that the prices shown on the website at the time of the launch were incorrect and work is now under way to correct this.” The correct price for tickets between Tweedbank and Edinburgh should be £10 for a single fare, £16 for peak-return, £11.20 for off-peak-return, and a seven day season ticket for £64.

Scottish Borders Council leader David Parker contacted ScotRail after learning about the weekend ticketing problems.

He said: “I think it is fair to say it could have gone better from ScotRail’s point of view - it’s not good that we have had this hiccup. Certainly on the first day that tickets go on sale I can totally understand the Borders public’s frustrations.” The Borders Railway officially opens for passengers on Sunday, September 6.

ScotRail fares for the new Borders Railway are being phased into the system, and tickets between Edinburgh Waverley and Tweedbank will be available by the end of this week.

Ticket to/from further afield, such as Glasgow and Inverness, will be available by the end of the month.