Terminal stations miss key punctuality target

Labour MSP describes situation as ‘unacceptable’

None of Tayside and Fife’s terminal stations met a punctuality target last month, new figures show.

They were among the 58% of Scotland’s train hubs that fell short in a performance branded “unacceptable” by a Labour MSP.

ScotRail services must arrive at stations within five minutes of their scheduled arrival 90.8% of the time, according to strict standards set by the Scottish Government.

At Dundee, 88.4% of services achieved that, compared with 90.4% in Perth.

The worst performers in Courier Country were Markinch (68.4%), Arbroath (70.2%) and Carnoustie (85.7%).

Nationally the performance target was met, with 93.7% of trains pulling up in time within the five-minute measure.

A tougher target – the percentage of services arriving within 59 seconds of their scheduled time – was hit just 61.7% of the time in Dundee, compared with Perth (68.0%), Arbroath (40.3%) and Kirkcaldy (57.2%).

Scottish Labour’s Neil Bibby said: “It is unacceptable that services at nearly 60% of stations failed to hit the performance target last month.”

The figures relate to the country’s 73 terminal stations, eight of which are in Tayside and Fife. ScotRail runs 359 stations in total. The operator has come under pressure in recent months for overcrowding, delays and other performance issues.

However, the National Passenger Survey published last month showed it had recovered from a 14-year-low in customer satisfaction to a recordequalling high.

A spokesman for ScotRail said: “Of the 60,000 services that we ran last month, 94 per cent of them arrived on time.

“That’s up from 91.1 per cent last year, and exceeds the 90.9 per cent target in the performance improvement plan.”

He added the investment in the network “will deliver faster trains, more seats and better services”.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said there has been several months of “sustained improvement” at ScotRail.

“The Scottish Government will continue to deliver against the £5bn programme committed over the five years to 2019 that will help transform Scotland’s railway and make it fit for the 21st Century,” he added.