Another fine mess
Train firm hit with £2.2m penalties in just six months.. and taxpayer picks up the bill
SCOTRAIL have been “fined” more than £2.2million in just six months for failing to meet key targets.
The operators met just 15 of 38 benchmarks, falling short for toilet provision, cleanliness and littered stations.
The train company have to allocate money to improve standards if they breach performance measures, overseen by Scottish Government agency Transport Scotland.
Labour said the penalties, which are effectively taxpayer-funded, show passengers are getting a bad deal.
Colin Smyth, Scottish Labour’s transport spokesman, said: “Passengers across Scotland deserve better than this failing ScotRail franchise.
“The least they can expect for a four-figure season ticket is for trains to be clean but, as these official figures show, that is routinely not the case.
“These fines are not worth the paper they are written on, with privately-run ScotRail funded by the taxpayer through subsidies in the first place.
“It is passengers who are essentially paying both the fines and the price for their continued mismanagement of our railways.”
Nearly £1.2million of penalties were issued between January and March, followed by more than £1million between April and June.
ScotRail said the change indicates progress.
The franchise holders have installed 34 defibrillators to busy stations, undertaken car park resurfacing and improved waiting rooms at some central belt stations. David Lister, ScotRail’s safety assurance director, said: “We know there is a lot of work still to be done but these figures confirm the progress ScotRail is making.
“The investment we are making – in new and refurbished trains, in station facilities and in our people – is part of our plan to build the best railway Scotland has ever had.”
A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said there have been “encouraging improvements”, adding: “About 140 extra staff are being recruited to address the staffing issues, which lead to ticket offices being closed when they should be open and to improve the availability of on-train staff.
“An operational review has produced better working processes so that faults with equipment are dealt with more effectively.
“There is still clearly work to be done and we expect to see further progress from ScotRail in the coming months.”