What IS truth of rail ‘intervention’?

A RAIL chief who claimed he was unaware of complaints about ministerial interference was at a board meeting where his predecessor railed against government ‘micromanagement’, it emerged yesterday.

Earlier this month, the Conservatives accused Jenny Gilruth of breaching the ministerial code by delaying rail works in order to benefit her constituents while she was transport minister.

They linked her demand to the resignation of Chris Gibb, who quit as chief executive of Scottish Rail Holdings. He said he was leaving because he was sick of ‘continuing micromanagement by Scottish ministers, advisers and officials’.

His successor, David Lowrie, told a Holyrood committee he ‘didn’t hear’ Mr Gibb allege government interference before he left.

Ms Gilruth has admitted she ordered vital engineering work to be delayed. First Minister Humza Yousaf has now agreed to investigate the incident after Tory leader Douglas Ross said the apparent breach of the ministerial code was a ‘clear-cut sackable offence’.

Asked by the committee about the comments by Mr Gibb, Mr Lowrie said: ‘I had no conversations with him on that sort of stuff.’

The rail operator has now confirmed Mr Lowrie attended the December meeting where the damning comments were shared.

Labour’s Monica Lennon said: ‘Now his memory has been jogged it would be good to get clarity about what he knew. Taxpayers deserve to know whether the conduct of the Scottish Government had anything to do with the departure of a highly respected rail expert.’

Tory transport spokesman Graham Simpson added: ‘The alleged micromanagement raises vital questions about how the SNP has intervened in ScotRail’s operations.’