Train company given £4m to run poorly-used station
Abellio will be paid £4 million over 10 years for running a new railway station branded a “white elephant” because it is often deserted.
Earlier this year we revealed the £41m Edinburgh Gateway station was used by barely a third of the expected number of passengers.
The shortfall is being blamed on the decision to drop plans to connect the station to the busy Glasgow-Edinburgh line.
But now it has emerged staffing the station is not included in the 10-year ScotRail franchise agreement and the costs are subject to a separate deal between Transport Scotland and Abellio.
A breakdown of this “contract variation” shows Transport Scotland pay Abellio just over £4m to staff and run the station.
Figures show that between December 11 last year and July 22, a total of 134,655 passengers had used the station.
This works out as an average of 4207 passengers a week which, if extrapolated over 12 months, comes to 218,814, just over a third of the projected 500,000 to 600,000 annual total when the station was signed off.
Construction costs for the station were estimated at £24m but soared to £41m by the time it was completed.
Construction began in April 2015 – the same month the Abellio franchise got under way.
We asked Transport Scotland why the station was not included in the main franchise deal.
It said the agreement was changed after being signed off in 2014 when the number of trains and staff levels were finalised.