Faster journeys are only possible if the trains run

Scotrail is facing a challenge in rebuilding customer trust after more chaos on Scotland’s railways

As excuses go, it sits defiantly in the category marked “bold”. After rail passengers around the country faced disruption caused by yet more cancelled services, yesterday operator Scotrail blamed the chaos on a “final push” to deliver timetable improvements. The situation was so very bad because managers were trying so very hard to make things better.

Regardless of whether one finds this a compelling explanation – and a sceptical response seems perfectly reasonable to us – the fact is that Scotland’s train services are not up to scratch. Frequent cancellations, constant delays, and trains with so few carriages that many are standing room only during busy periods, are par for the course.

And while the standard of service remains poor, prices continue to rise.

The new year will see ticket prices rise by an average of 2.8 per cent across the network. Passengers may wonder where – other than into the pockets of shareholders – that money is going to go.

Scotrail’s monopoly leaves the commuter with the option either to endure the service provided or simply not use trains. The train operator has the upper hand.

This being so, the public should expect the Scottish Government to take serious action if Scotrail fails to deliver the basic standards we have the right to expect. Train travel, though expensive, is not a luxury. For many, it is the only way to get to work and we find it hard to disagree with Scottish Labour’s transport spokesman Colin Smyth when he says passengers across the country are being “ripped off ”.

In the year until 10 November, the number of services that arrived within five minutes of scheduled time was just 87.3 per cent.

These services being not all that late is hardly something worth bragging about. The Scottish Greens’ transport spokesman, John Finnie, is quite right to say that as passengers in Scotland too often suffer delayed, cancelled and overcrowded trains, significant fare increases are simply wrong.

Scotrail insists that timetable changes being introduced next Sunday will deliver faster journeys on some routes, including the busy Glasgow-edinburgh one. We hope this is so but are bound to say that speedier journeys can only actually take place if the trains that are scheduled to run actually do so. Scotrail faces quite the challenge in rebuilding customer trust.