Bid to bring rail under public ownership

EMERGENCY: Humza Yousaf to address MSPs over railway problems

Scotland’s Transport Minister has been forced to make an urgent statement to parliament as controversy over the country’s rail network continues to rage.

Opposition parties had called for Humza Yousaf to face questions at Holyrood on the future of ScotRail services after criticism of the current operator Abellio.

He has now agreed to address MSPs over proposals to bring Scotland’s railways into public ownership.

It comes as Labour applied pressure over the fact it takes longer for passengers to travel to Edinburgh from both Dundee and Perth than Victorian era.

In 1895 it took 57 minutes to get from the capital to the City of Discovery, compared to ScotRail’s current fastest time of 64 minutes in 2016.

Those figures are 65 minutes and 72 minutes for the Fair City service.

Given only 61.3% of trains arrive in Dundee on time, with Perth’s performance marginally better at 68.3%, it is likely even worse delays befall the modern day traveller.

Mr Yousaf has said he wants to work with unions and other political parties to put together a public sector bid to run the railways, which could be ready for 2020 when a clause in the contract with Abellio would allow it to be broken.

Labour’s transport spokesman Neil Bibby MSP described the situation as a “shambles”, while Tory finance spokesman Murdo Fraser MSP said re-nationalisation proposals were “half-baked”.

Mr Yousaf said: “As I have made clear, our focus is firmly on driving up standards for passengers and ScotRail bosses have been left in no doubt about it did in the the need for improvements, and the seriousness of my intent. I will continue to monitor their performance closely.”

At the request of Transport Scotland, ScotRail was forced to produce a performance improvement plan in September after punctuality and reliability fell below standard, and a train breakdown in Edinburgh last Thursday caused widespread disruption for commuters.

Charlotte Twyning, director of policy, strategy and communications for Abellio UK, pointed out ministers control fares and capacity.

She added: “Rail passengers are better served by organisations and individuals collaborating in customers’ interests and not their own, and we encourage all parties to do so.”

Mr Bibby said: “Passengers are fast losing confidence in Humza Yousaf, so it is to be welcomed that he has immediately responded to my call for an emergency statement and agreed to Labour’s demands to come before parliament this week.”