Scotrail under fire after increase in trains ‘skipping’ stations
SCOTRAIL has been criticised after a rise in “stop skipping”, with more than 2,600 trains failing to stop at all their designated stations last year.
The Scottish Greens, who obtained the new figures through a written parliamentary question, called it “extremely disappointing”.
Responding to MSP John Finnie, Transport Secretary Michael Matheson revealed 2,660 services skipped stations, up from 2,131 between January 2018 and
January 2019.
Mr Matheson said 0.33 per cent of all trains booked to run in 2019 were affected by the problem.
Mr Matheson last month cut short
Abellieo’s contract for the Scotrail franchise on value for money grounds after years of complaints about inadequate passenger services.
Mr Finnie said: “It is extremely disappointing that instances of stop skipping have increased by almost a fifth in a year.
“Folk rely on our rail services for work, education and so much more and it is simply unacceptable that this level of inconvenience occurs.
“It is not unreasonable to expect that your train calls at all the stations advertised.
“Everyone accepts that delays and cancellations will happen from time to time on a busy network but this should be minimised.”
Mr Finnie said the issue of stop skipping must be considered when Abellio’s hold on the Scotrail franchise runs out in 2022.
He said: “Given stop skipping is only treated as a ‘partial cancellation’ in the franchise agreement, there are times when deliberately bypassing stations could be financially advantageous for the operator.
“It is vital that the Transport Secretary ensures this arrangement does not continue when the next franchise agreement is drawn up.”
A Scotrail spokesman said: “Missing out stations is never done to meet targets or for financial gain.
“If a train fails to stop at a scheduled station then it automatically fails to meet our very challenging targets.”
He added: “We completely understand that this doesn’t make it any less frustrating for our customers when it happens and we do everything we can to minimise services or stops being cancelled.
“It’s a very rare occurrence for a train to miss a stop and is only done as a last resort measure to limit knock-on disruption to customers across the wider network.
“Compensation is available for customers who are delayed by 30 minutes or more.”