Paisley Canal on track

ScotRail has hailed an improvement in its service by using the Paisley Canal route as an example of the progress the rail operator has made.

New figures show punctuality on Scotland’s railways has improved for the second consecutive period, with 84.2 per cent of ScotRail trains meeting the rail industry standard public performance measure between December 9 and January 5.

In that time, more than 96 per cent of trains on the Paisley Canal route met their punctuality target.

However, in spite of the heralded improvements to the service, the rail operator admits certain‘challenges’ have prevented Scotrail from achieving even greater scores including cancellations to allow drivers to be trained, late delivery of new trains by suppliers and an overtime and rest day working ban by the RMT trade union, which has now been resolved.

ScotRail Alliance managing director Alex Hynes said:“This has been a challenging time for Scotland’s railway.

“While we know that our performance has not been good enough, it is encouraging to see our punctuality continuing to improve across the country.

“Everyone at the ScotRail Alliance is working flat out to provide customers with the service they deserve. We are training more than 20 drivers and conductors every day, and this will deliver continual improvements in the coming weeks and months.”