Scotrail trains must be far more punctual, demands regulator
0 ORR move backs a Scottish Government call for punctuality on Scotrail services to improve A significant improvement in the punctuality of Scotrail trains has been demanded by the rail regulator.
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) wants 92.5 per cent of services to run on time next year – three percentage points higher than at present.
The watchdog backs a similar call by the Scottish Government so more passengers arrive on schedule.
It follows the introduction in April by Scotrail Alliance with track owner Network Rail of a second improvement plan in 18 months in an attempt to turn round faltering performance.
The same target has been set for the whole of Network Rail’s next five-year spending period from 2019 to 2024, known as control period 6 (CP6). The alliance said it was “unlikely” to achieve that in 2019-20.
Punctuality is measured as the proportion of trains arriving at their destination within five minutes of time – the “public performance measure” (PPM). The ORR said the alliance had forecast it would reach 91.5 per cent in 2019-20.
Scotrail punctuality was 91.5 per cent last month, but the average over the previous year was only 89.3 per cent. It last reached 92.5 per cent in a single month last August but has dipped as low as 83 per cent since then.
The ORR said: “While we recognise there are some potentially significant risks, we have decided the Scotrail PPM target for the first year of CP6 should be set at the [Scottish Government] target of 92.5 per cent.
“The obligation on Network Rail is to achieve the target to the greatest extent reasonably practicable having regard to all relevant circumstances.
“If Network Rail don’t achieve this target, we would review to determine if they had done everything reasonable to achieve this. If they haven’t, we may investigate in more detail and our board would decide whether a penalty was appropriate.
“We will be consulting on our approach to enforcement later this year.”
Network Rail declined to say why the target was not expected to be hit. However, chief executive Mark Carne said: “There are still some areas of concern that we will need to work with ORR on before it publishes its final determination in October.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Mike Rumbles said: “Passengers want trains to be reliable and good value for money.
“The ORR has correctly stated performance targets for punctuality should be set at the highest achievable level and should not be rolled back to suit operators.”