Trains now due to arrive... will be delayed for 2 years

PASSENGERS can expect another two years of misery on Scotland’s trains due to delays, the firm that runs the railways has warned.

The ‘deeply troubling’ announcement comes as bosses admitted Scotrail services will miss targets to the end of the 2019-20 financial year.

Commuters have already had to endure years of delays as the firm’s Dutch owner Abellio struggles to get services running on time.

The revelation was in a report by the office of road and rail (orr), which regulates railways.

Punctuality is measured by the Public Performance Measure (PPM), the proportion of trains arriving within five minutes of their scheduled time.

The target for Scotrail, agreed with the Scottish Government, is a PPM of 92.5 per cent – but the moving annual average is running at only 89.3 per cent.

The orr report said: ‘network rail has recently advised it does not consider a 92.5 per cent PPM target is deliverable in year one of CP6 [2019-20].’

Scottish Labour transport spokesman Colin Smyth said: ‘This is a deeply troubling revelation that spells yet more misery for Scotrail passengers across the country.

‘Commuters and families are already used to delayed, cancelled and overcrowded trains – and stop-skipping has still not been eradicated.

‘This report shows network rail and Scotrail admit they will continue to fail on performance.

‘SNP Transport Minister Humza yousaf needs to get a grip and put Scotland’s rail passengers out of their misery by ending the current franchise. It’s time to put passengers before profits by taking Scotrail back into public owner- ship and delivering a service that works for the many, not the few.’

network rail has already been heavily criticised by the Scottish Government for delays and the soaring cost of upgrades to the Edinburgh-Glasgow line.

The company is part of a joint venture with Abellio, the Scotrail Alliance. Mentioning the 92.5 per target in its report, the orr said: ‘The obligation on network rail is to achieve the target to the greatest extent reasonably practicable, having regard to all relevant circumstances.

‘If network rail don’t achieve this target, we would review to determine if they had done everything reasonable to achieve this.

‘If they haven’t, we may investigate in more detail and our board would decide whether a penalty was appropriate.’

Scotrail insisted it is still working towards the 92.5 per cent target for 2019-20. A spokesman said: ‘The most recent figures show more than nine out ten services met their target. But we know our customers want an even better service, which is why we are working hard to implement our performance improvement plan.’

A network rail spokesman did not comment on why it had indicated the target could not be reached, but said: ‘Today’s draft determination [by the orr] is an important step in the process to finalise our plans to deliver a safe, reliable, improving and growing railway in the five years to 2024.

‘We welcome the regulator’s general support for our plans for Britain’s railways, delivering a more reliable service passengers can rely on. It has accepted the majority of our plans, strongly supporting the changes we have been making, including our focus on bringing track and train closer together and supporting devolution.

‘We will consider the detail carefully over the coming months as there are still some areas of concern we will need to work with orr on before it publishes its final determination in october.’

‘Yet more misery for passengers’