Labour and Tories hit out at SNP’s management of rail services in Scotland

Labour and the Conservatives have both hit out at the SNP’s management of rail services, ahead of the return of peak train fares at the end of September.

The two parties released separate research on train services, attacking the Scottish Government’s handling of the nationalised ScotRail franchise.

A year-long trial of scrapping peak rail fares is due to come to an end on September 27, meaning the cost of many commuter tickets will increase.

Ministers said the trial has not encouraged a significant shift from cars to trains and the £40 million cost of the subsidy can no longer be justified.

Labour has released analysis showing that so far in 2024, there have been around 250 fewer trains a day compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The party said the figure grew worse following the introduction of a temporary timetable in July, which cut services due to staff shortages amid a pay dispute.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives released freedom of information data showing that between April and July this year, 5,774 ScotRail trains were either fully or partially cancelled.

In 2022/23 there were 21,888 cancellations and in 2023/24 there were 20,284.

Scottish Conservative shadow transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: “This eye-watering number of cancellations wholly exposes the monumental failures of the SNP since they took control of Scotland’s railways.

“In the last few months alone, passengers have had to endure close to 6,000 trains being either fully or partly cancelled, which is completely unacceptable.

“These endless cancellations fly in the face of (then first minister) Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP promising a bright new dawn for passengers two years ago and this situation shows no sign of improving any time soon.

“On top of currently having to deal with cuts to services, passengers found out this week that they will be hit by huge price hikes as of next month.”

Scottish Labour transport spokesman Alex Rowley said: “The SNP has given up on rail, hitting long-suffering passengers with a double whammy of brutal service cuts and eye-watering fare hikes.

“At a time when we need better trains to boost growth and reduce emissions, the SNP has instead consigned ScotRail to a spiral of decline.

“The peak fares pilot boosted passenger numbers despite being undermined at every turn by the SNP’s cuts to services and lack of advertising.

“The SNP’s neglect of our railways is economic and environmental vandalism and its decision to hike fares is an attack on workers.”

ScotRail’s strategy and planning director Scott Prentice said: “ScotRail recognise the temporary timetable is less convenient for many customers across Scotland, however it was introduced to provide customers with certainty and reliability in place of late-notice cancellations.

“We continue to review service levels and reinstate services where we can. The temporary timetable now operates 20 more services and provides 11,000 more seats each weekday than when it was first introduced.

“We want to resolve the pay dispute with the trade unions as soon as possible and restore the timetable to normal.”

A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said: “There is no doubt that this has been a challenging period for rail travel but ministers are hopeful that services can get back to normal soon, and Scotland’s railway continues to grow.

“Since ScotRail moved into public sector, passenger numbers are up by 75% from 46.7 million in 2021/22 to around 82 million in 2023/24. This makes ScotRail one of the fastest growing operators, with one of the best passenger satisfaction rates.

“The progress on pay talks, with the unions’ recommendation to their national executive that the latest offer is taken to a members’ referendum, is welcome.

“Should this go ahead, ministers would encourage those involved to vote to accept this fair and affordable pay deal to enable ScotRail to return to the previous timetable of around 2,250 services per day – the highest since pre-Covid.

“While the peak fares removal pilot was a welcome incentive over the last 12 months, it simply isn’t sustainable in the longer term.

“The Scottish Government would be open to consider future subsidy to remove peak fares should UK budget allocations to the Scottish Government improve in future years.”