Scotrail won’t hit target until end of 2021

● Punctuality goal further delayed despite new remedial plan agreed

Scotrail will not now hit its performance target until the end of 2021, the train operator has admitted to MSPS.

The date is nine months later than when it had previously said it would reach 92.5 per cent punctuality.

Abellio, which took over in 2015, has never hit that level and is currently nearly five percentage points adrift.

The official “moving annual average” measure – punctuality over the last 12 months – stands at 87.6 per cent of trains arriving within five minutes of time.

Scotrail operations director David Simpson told the Scottish Parliament’s rural economy and connectivity committee it would be the “end of 2021 we expect to reach the target”.

The company has blamed a range of problems for the poor performance, including a training backlog caused by late-delivered new trains, industrial action, and extreme weather such as snow and high temperatures.

The firm has been ordered by ministers to implement a remedial plan over the high numbers of cancellations on lines into Edinburgh last year due to the training problem.

Transport secretary Michael Matheson later confirmed to the committee that if Scotrail failed to make any of the 19 improvements in the plan by next year it would be in default and faced losing the franchise.

He said: “As the First Minister has already said, they are in the last-chance saloon.

“So if they don’t get it right, that should make it very clear to them what the potential consequences can be.”

Mr Matheson said Scotrail’s planning assumptions for the delivery of the new trains had been “wrong”.

He said there had been performance improvements in some areas, such as Glasgow, but “people on the east coast are not experiencing that”.

Scotrail Alliance managing director Alex Hynes told MSPS: “We know we must do better and I’m confident we will do better.

“We need to do much, much more to regain the trust of our customers, but things are going in the right direction.

“Scotrail will face further challenges throughout the course of 2019 – training new drivers takes 18 months in total. We remain at the mercy of our train suppliers who have let us down badly in the past. And although Network Rail is investing more than ever to prepare for the extremes of Scottish weather, its unpredictable nature will continue to significantly impact Scotland’s railway.”

Mr Hynes said Scotrail’s performance was also affected by other factors, such as trespassers and infrastructure faults, including to tracks and signalling.

He said punctuality had improved for four months in a row, reaching 89.8 per cent last month compared to 80.5 per cent in October.

However, Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Mike Rumbles said: “I’m shocked that Scotrail seems to be in denial about the serious decline of performance levels over the past 18 months.

“The situation is completely unacceptable and there is no recognition of the impact that is having for passengers.”