‘Regrets’ over ferries scandal as Scotrail comes into public ownership
Nicola Sturgeon says she “made very clear” her “regret” to island communities over the ferries scandal in the Scottish Parliament this week.
The First Minister’s response comes as she answered a question posed by The Scotsman on whether an apology would be issued to those impacted by delays to ferries, which have seen significant delays and cost overruns.
Speaking at Queen Street station in Glasgow on Friday morning, Ms Sturgeon said: “I made very clear my regret to islandcommunitiesinscottish Parliament yesterday.”
It comes after a report from
Audit Scotland claimed the costoftwocalmacferriescould run to two-and-a-half times the original £97 million price tag.
Ferguson Marine was awardedthecontractfortwovesselsin 2015, but recent cost estimates have put the price of the ferries at more than £240m.
Asked whether the public shouldhavefaithinthescottish Governmentdeliveringonpublic transport following the ferries scandal, Ms Sturgeon said: “I’mnotseekingtodiminishthe ferry, rail problems with delays and cost overruns. I do think though there is an oversimplifying trying to read across what we are doing today.
"The nationalisation of Ferguson shipyard hasn’t caused theproblemwithferries.onthe contrary, nationalisation has been part of trying to resolve part of the problems with ferries.
"There are some unique challenges there that cannot simply be read across to the railways, butthatsaidwehaveadutynow that the railways are in public ownership.”
Marking Scotrail officially coming under Scottish Government control after 25 years of privatisation, Ms Sturgeon saiditwasa“significantdayand moment”.
The First Minister said the Governmentwouldaimtolook at improvements in “continuity and reliability” of services, as well as a focus on net zero as Scotland begins to venture into a post pandemic world.
Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government had to “prove” to the public that nationalising Scotrail is a good idea as she said change would not come “overnight”.
However, she stressed more direct ownership by ministers would make addressing issues easier.
On fares, Ms Sturgeon stressed they were 20 per cent lower in Scotland than in England, but added: “Affordability of travel on our railways is important and I think it’s an important part of what we want to do through public ownership."
Transportministerjennygilruth said the move was “historic”.
Inastatement,shesaid:“this is an opportunity to deliver a railway which is for the benefit of the people of Scotland and everyone who travels by rail – customers, staff and stakeholders, not shareholders.”
The Scottish Tories have said change needs to be felt across the rail network for the project to be a success.
Graham Simpson, Scottish Conservative transport spokesman, said: “We need to start to change things otherwise what’s the point in all this? We need quick action because, at the end of the day, we want to encourage people to start using trains, we want to get people back on the trains and out of their cars.”