Scotland's national rail operator has apologised to an elderly passenger who collapsed after enduring cold carriages on a service dubbed the 'Polar Express’.
It is understood doctors attributed him becoming unwell to the temperature of the ScotRail train.
Dr Frank Roberts, 79, and his wife Anne, 75, were travelling on the 8.55am West Highland Line service from Oban to Glasgow.
Mr Roberts said: "The whole train was iced over when I got on, which surprised me because it was not the first train.
"We were reasonably well-dressed. Anne had on one of those big puffer jackets. I had a fairly heavy-duty outdoor jacket.
"There was no heating that we could detect: no heat coming out of the units at all."
"I am bloody furious. The conditions on the train were completely and absolutely unacceptable.
The couple’s trip in December, lasted one hour 20 minutes until they disembarked at Crianlarich when passengers were transferred to a bus on to Glasgow.
"I started walking down the lane and collapsed, which was put down to being so cold," said Dr Roberts.
"I had a contusion on my forehead. I definitely suffered a very severe concussion.
"I have no memory whatsoever of having fallen. Pretty awful.
"I remember the train journey very well. I remember feeling cold. I remember getting off. Very little else.
"A couple of men picked me up and took me to the village store and called an ambulance."
Dr Roberts was kept overnight in hospital, undergoing a CT scan to check for internal bleeding in his skull.
"The doctor said it was probably due to being so cold," said the pensioner, speaking to The Oban Times.
"I am bloody furious. The conditions on the train were completely and absolutely unacceptable.
"It was almost like hypothermia."
The West Highland Line was once dubbed the world's most scenic journey but is more likely these days to attract publicity for the state of the ageing Class 156 trains, which were built between 1987-89.
Passengers are regularly spotted in outdoor gear to keep warm on the route to Glasgow, which takes more than three hours from Oban and more than five from Mallaig.
Later that week on January 4, Owen Wild and Emily Reid, both 23, took the 6.20pm service from Glasgow to Oban.
"It was -8C. It was the coldest day in exactly a year," Mr Wild said.
"When we got on the train at Queen Street, there was not a single bit of heating. It just got colder and colder until we got to Oban.
"We were huddled together like animals in hibernation. It was Baltic.
"Everyone was wrapped up and shivering. There was nothing they could do about it.
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Ms Reid added: "I was wearing two fluffy layers, and a blanket, and a snood. I looked like a giant marshmallow. We could feel the degrees dropping.
"My fingers and toes were numb, and I had to keep wiggling them to keep them warm. It was quite painful in my hands and in my toes. It was a very unpleasant thing. My joints have been stiff since Sunday."
Highland MP Angus MacDonald said he was in "constant dialogue" with ScotRail about the service.
He said: "They are shabby, far too cold in the winter and with not enough capacity in the summer.
"We hear horrifying stories about the service. I will be pushing for commitments on improved services."
A ScotRail spokesperson said: "We were sorry to learn of Dr Roberts experience and hope he has made a full recovery from his fall, and we are sorry to customers who have experienced colder temperatures on board some of our West Highland services, as we know how important it is for our trains to provide a warm, comfortable, and welcoming environment."
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