SLAP IN THE FACE FOR RAIL PASSENGERS
ScotRail pays thousands in compensation as network is branded unfit for purpose – but ex-chief gets a CBE
A RAIL boss was honoured for his services to the industry yesterday – as it emerged passengers have suffered soaring numbers of delays and cancellations.
only hours before ex-network Rail chief Mark carne visited Buckingham Palace to be made a CBE, Britain’s rail watchdog announced it had launched enforcement action against the track operator.
Punctuality and reliability are at their lowest levels for 15 years, the office of Road and Rail (ORR) said.
It comes amid more criticism of ScotRail’s ‘dismal’ performance, after it was revealed that 1,600 passengers receive compensation every week due to delays – with First Minister nicola sturgeon blaming network Rail for
many of the problems. A total of 65,060 ScotRail customers were compensated for delays in the first ten months of this year – an average of 1,626 each week.
Yesterday, Miss Sturgeon said ministers ‘deeply regret any inconvenience to passengers’, but added: ‘Around half – sometimes more than half – of all delays on the ScotRail network are the responsibility of network Rail.
‘The oRR took formal action against network Rail to deliver improved performance and confirmed that ScotRail’s performance in 2018-19 has been impacted by severe weather.’
But Scottish Lib Dem transport spokesman Mike Rumbles said: ‘The volume of delay repay claims is astonishing. it shows just how dismal rail performance and punctuality has been.’
Under ScotRail’s ‘delay repay’ guarantee, passengers receive compensation worth 50 per cent of the cost of their ticket – or 25 per cent of a return – if their service is more than 30 minutes late.
This rises to a full refund – or 50 per cent for a return – if their train arrives more than an hour behind schedule. The compensation figures were obtained by the Lib Dems following a freedom of information request. The Scottish government refused to release details of the amount paid out.
The oRR said network Rail may have breached ‘condition one’ of its network licence with the government.
The watchdog said ‘extreme weather’ had contributed to the group’s poor performance but highlighted ‘systemic issues’ with the operator’s ‘approach and commitment to performance planning’ and with its ‘capability to recover from incidents’.
The oRR said six in ten delays – equivalent to 156,000 hours – were down to network Rail rather than train operators.
The watchdog’s punctuality report covers the final few months of Mr Carne’s tenure.
He took early retirement from his £820,000-a-year job in the summer – and yesterday was honoured by Prince william. Labour MP wes Streeting said: ‘To see someone associated with this failure picking up a gong will look to many like a reward for failure.’
This is the oRR’s first enforcement action against network Rail since 2008. if the group is still in breach of its licence after three months, it faces a multimillion-pound fine and lawsuits by train operators.
network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines said: ‘we know that train performance has not been what passengers deserve.’
A group spokesman said: ‘During [Mr Carne’s] tenure our railway’s safety record went from strength to strength to become the safest in Europe.’ A ScotRail spokesman said: ‘we are doing everything we can to deliver the more punctual service customers expect.’
A spokesman for Transport Scotland said: ‘Many delays are due to infrastructure issues which are the responsibility of network Rail, which remains the responsibility of the Uk government.’