It’s chaos on the commute (again)
New timetable causes fresh misery for rail travellers
Passengers want a punctual service
RAIL chiefs faced anger yesterday after Scotland’s trains fell short of targets on punctuality just an hour into the new rushhour timetable.
Figures revealed ScotRail services are running at their worst punctuality rate since November last year.
By 8.30am yesterday, 13 per cent of services across the country had experienced delays, according to the operator.
It came as ScotRail’s new winter timetable was put to its first real test during yesterday’s morning rush hour.
The figure is well below the firm’s four-week 92.5 per cent ontime target. It comes despite ministers last year granting the operator a £23million taxpayerfunded bailout amid growing concerns over performance.
Scottish Labour’s transport spokesman Colin Smyth said: ‘ScotRail’s poor performance is continuing to let passengers down, with the worst punctuality level for a year. The SNP have the power to end this franchise early, but they are quickly running out of time to do so.
‘(Transport Secretary) Michael Matheson must be clear with passengers about whether he intends to reward failure by extending the franchise and handing Abellio another three years running Scotland’s railways, or will he for once put passengers before the profits of the big rail firms and end this failing franchise?’
ScotRail’s record of monthly performance plunged to its lowest level last month when punctuality sank to an average 84.4 per cent.
It was the company’s worst rate since December 2018 and brought their average down to 88.3 per cent for the year.
The failure to hit its target comes despite the introduction of an £858million upgrade to speed up services between Glasgow and Edinburgh with a newly electrified line.
Passengers took to social media to complain about a string of delays yesterday morning.
Ross McKay said the 7.53am train between Dunfermline and Edinburgh was delayed by seven minutes due to signalling problems.
He wrote on social media: ‘Might very well be a new ScotRail timetawill ble but it’s still the same delays and cattle-like overcrowding’.
Steven Minto from North Queensferry, Fife, said he had missed a connection between Edinburgh and Musselburgh, East Lothian, as a result of a delay.
Another passenger, commuting in to Glasgow from Lanarkshire, wrote: ‘I celebrated the new service this morning with an eight-minute delay to the 0832 from Stepps waiting in freezing, icy rain. Start as you mean to go on, eh?’
He added: ‘Struggling to remember the last time I got the 0832 when it wasn’t delayed.’
Robert Sampson, from consumer group Transport Focus, said: ‘What passengers want is a punctual and reliable service where they are able to get a seat.
‘On the Edinbugh to Glasgow line in the morning and evening peak all trains will be eight carriages so it be easier to get a seat for most passengers – but there is still a way to go.
‘In Fife, it’s been a long time since there have been timetable improvements and passengers are crying out for it. One of the delays is the failure to deliver the high speed trains.’
The Scottish Government are currently in the process of deciding whether to extend the ScotRail contract beyond its first expiry date in 2022. If it decides not to let the contract end at this point it will be extended until at least 2025.
Statistics published by ScotRail show an average punctuality of 93.2 per cent on Sunday.
However, the figures reveal that ‘Express Services’ between Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness and Glasgow only had an 82.7 per cent punctuality rate that day.
The most punctual services ran from Glasgow Queen Street to Ayr, Motherwell and Cumbernauld, with a punctuality rate of 96.7 per cent.
ScotRail operations director David Simpson said 87 per cent of trains were on time.
He said: ‘At the moment the network is running well.
‘What we do is we introduce new trains to the network, we react to market conditions and twice a year we amend the timetables’.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: ‘Looking at one day’s performance in isolation doesn’t present a full picture.
‘Overall, there has been improvement in recent months; cancellations have declined significantly and punctuality has improved.
‘Over the autumn period, performance has been at one of its highest levels in recent years.’
• Transport Secretary Mr Matheson yesterday unveiled a plaque at a new £14million station in Robroyston, Glasgow – officially opening it as the city’s 60th train station.