ScotRail’s performance hits the buffers
SCOTRAIL’S latest performance statistics show a dismal track record of more than half of its trains arriving late at a host of key terminus stations – as passengers face hefty price hikes.
Figures for the four-week period into December also reveal one in seven of all services across the network arrived ‘late’ – at least five minutes behind schedule.
It comes as businesses and commuters face a travel double whammy in Scotland with publiclyowned ScotRail hiking fares by 8.7 per cent as the SNP-Green Government presses on with a slew of anticar policies amid plans to reduce car journeys by a fifth by 2030. Passengers in England, meanwhile, will see fares go up 4.9 per cent.
The SNP-Greens pledged to give Scotland vastly improved train services after the rail network was nationalised in April 2022.
However, performance data shows customers face unreliability, poor punctuality and ageing trains, with some now nearly 40 years old.
ScotRail’s statistics for the month to December 9 show more than half of all trains were late at no fewer than 21 out of 83 terminus stations listed. At Helensburgh Central, consistently the worst-performing station in Scotland, just 24.2 per cent of services arrived on time.
Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: ‘If the SNP want to encourage people to ditch the car and travel by train, they have to up their game and guarantee passengers more reliable and modern services.’ Labour transport spokesman Alex Rowley said: ‘Public ownership was supposed to be a chance to build a railway that puts passengers first and delivers the standard of service Scotland needs, but the SNP has wasted that opportunity.’
We told earlier this month how ScotRail had slumped to its lowest performance level since being nationalised, with compensation payments reaching a new high.
Phil Campbell, ScotRail customer operations director, said: ‘Everyone is working hard to improve performance across the network.’
Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop said: ‘We have kept the rise as low as possible to maintain the attractiveness and affordability of rail as a travel option.’