Punctuality of trains creeps up for April

Scotrail’s punctuality improved for the fifth time in the last six months, new figures show.

A total of 89.9 per cent of trains arrived within five minutes last month, up 1.5 points from March.

However, the operator’s average punctuality over the past year dipped to its lowest for around 13 years because of poor performance last summer.

This “moving annual average” – on which Scotrail is measured – went down by 0.2 points to 87.4 per cent.

But the firm said it had its best day’s punctuality last month since September, of 94.4 per cent.

Scottish Conservatives transport spokesman Jamie Greene said: “Although April did show better reliability, Scotrail is yet to meet its statutory 92.5 per cent punctuality target and is not projected to do so until 2021, if at all.”

Scottish Labour transport spokesman Colin Smyth said: “These are the worst moving average performance figures since the franchise began, meaning Scotrail are once again in breach of their franchise agreement.”

Scotrail Alliance managing director Alex Hynes said: “We know we still need to improve, but I am confident the investment we are making will help us to give our customers the service they expect.”