Sturgeon forced to say sorry for more rail chaos
NICOLA Sturgeon was forced to apologise to commuters yesterday after another day of chaos on Scotland’s railways.
The First Minister said she understood the frustration of passengers faced with delays and cancellations after a train broke down, blocking the lines at Edinburgh Waverley during the morning rush hour.
Thousands of commuters had to wait several hours.
Now ScotRail once again faces serious questions. According to the company, the breakdown happened at ‘the worst part of our network’ – between Waverley and Haymarket, affecting trains from Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness and the Borders.
At First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale claimed that even on a good day, with no breakdowns, ScotRail was failing customers.
She said performance figures on Wednesday were 79 per cent compared to a target of 91 per cent, meaning more than one in five trains failed to arrive on time. In rural areas, it was 60 per cent.
Miss Dugdale said: ‘I think commuters would like to hear an apology from the First Minister. Rail passengers don’t feel like they’ve seen any sort of improvement.
‘Overcrowded trains, delayed trains, cancelled trains – that’s the SNP’s idea of a world-leading deal for passengers.’
Miss Sturgeon revealed she and Transport Minister Humza Yousaf had spoken with ScotRail boss Phil Verster following the breakdown and had been assured services were resumed by 11am, after the train was moved at around 8.30am. She said: ‘I am sorry for the disruption this morning and for disruption any passenger faces on any day of the week. That is ScotRail’s position and it is also mine.’
The ScotRail contract was awarded to Dutch firm Abellio last year but critics have called for the company to be stripped of this if it continues to perform poorly.
Yesterday, Miss Sturgeon said that option was on the table, but added: ‘I absolutely accept things are not good enough and that is why the improvement plan is in place and why we will stick with that until things are running to a standard the public have a right to expect.’
Mr Verster said: ‘I want to apologise for the disruption our customers experienced today. The breakdown this morning was the worst type of train failure, in the worst part of our network, at the worst possible time.’
Last night, train drivers’ union ASLEF called on Miss Sturgeon to sack Mr Yousaf. General Secretary Mick Whelan said: ‘The Scottish Government response to the rail crisis has been pathetic.
‘Humza Yousaf has stood by while Abellio ScotRail takes passengers and taxpayers for a ride.
‘Nicola Sturgeon must take personal responsibility, as her Government awarded this contract. She should sack her incompetent Transport Minister.’
A spokesman for Miss Sturgeon said she had complete confidence in Mr Yousaf.
Hitting the buffers – Page 26
‘The response has been pathetic’