SNP MP says Scotrail an ‘exemplar’ despite growing problems
AN SNP MP has claimed Scotland’s train operator is an “exemplar” of how to run a railway system, despite cancellations, timetable cuts and a bitter pay dispute.
Party transport spokesman Gavin Newlands made the comments in the Commons.
It came a day after Scotrail, which was nationalised last month, announced it will cut 700 services from Monday in response to a driver shortage caused by a disagreement with the union Aslef, which has seen some drivers decline to work overtime or rest days.
A temporary timetable could be in place for weeks, Scotrail’s service delivery director David Simpson said.
Tory MP Chris Loder had questioned how Mr Newlands could herald Scotrail as a good example, given its current issues with strikes and cancellations.
He said: “Do you not really think that actually, before we call for too much more of what you would like in terms of independence and delegating things away from Westminster, that you really ought to get the house in order in Scotland first?”
Mr Newlands, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said he didn’t recognise the situation Mr Loder painted.
“The fact is, with the integrated approach to track and train in Scotland, Scotrail is actually the exemplar for the rest of the UK in how to run a rail system,” he said.
Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson Jill Reilly said: “It takes some brass neck to make this claim when Snp/green ministers have just run a big red pen through a third of the timetable, only 47 days after taking over.
“Passengers are losing almost 700 services a day, evening trains are evaporating and the SNP/ Green Government have put fares up 4 per cent for the privilege. People are being taken for granted. This SNP/ Green Government has hit the ground cutting.”
At FMQS, Nicola Sturgeon apologised to rail passengers after being accused of presiding over “the worst service in a generation”.
However she also tried to suggest the UK Government was “souring” industrial relations as she faced intense criticism over the pay dispute on Scotland’s railways.
Opposition parties said open-ended cuts to 700 Scotrail services a day next week would be “devastating” for passengers and business.
With the last train on many routes leaving before 8pm, there have been warnings of job losses in the bars and restaurants relying on customers in the evening.
Ms Sturgeon said it was “vital to get the timetable back to normal as quickly as possible”, and a formal review of the arrangements was due on June 3.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross asked Ms Sturgeon to apologise “to the thousands of passengers who have faced disruption since the SNP took control of Scotland’s railways”.
She replied: “I always express apologies to anybody who does not get the standard of service that they deserve, whether from our rail services or any other public services.”
She then drew attention to the wages Aslef’s drivers are paid and stressed any pay deal must be “affordable”.
She said: “It is important to seek to reach an agreement – a fair agreement – on pay as quickly as possible. Right now, train drivers earn around £50,000 a year, before overtime. Notwithstanding that, this is a tough time for everyone. Everyone wants a fair pay award, but it is required that all pay awards be affordable.
“I expect Scotrail to make sure the temporary timetable is just that – temporary.
“I say to the unions that I understand that their job is to represent their members and get a fair pay deal for them, but both parties should get round the table and negotiate for that in good faith.”
Mr Ross said passengers were paying more for fares but “getting the worst service in a generation”.
He said: “Seven weeks in, nationalisation is already proving to be a disaster.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “Why do the people of Scotland continually have to pay the price of SNP failure?”
Ms Sturgeon admitted there were “challenges” in renationalising Scotrail.
She said Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth was in regular talks with the unions, and said Mr Simpson would do better to engage with the substance instead of mouthing slogans.
SNP MSP Fiona Hyslop asked if Ms Sturgeon was worried that a UK Government “political and ideological” dispute with rail unions south of the Border was “souring industrial relations here in Scotland and affecting the new beginning of public ownership of Scotland’s railway”.
Ms Sturgeon said that if the UK dispute was not resolved it would have an effect on services in Scotland by affecting rail infrastructure, “so some advice from the Conservatives to their own party might not go amiss”.
The Night Time Industries Association Scotland said “Such cuts to services, even temporarily, are yet another cruel blow for Scotland’s hard pressed night time economy and cultural sector which are yet to recover from the pandemic.”