Transport minister Humza Yousaf has said that ScotRail could do better but insisted the rail operator's performance is not 'apocalyptic'.

Mr Yousaf, who has come under fire for problems on the railways, told MSPs he was 'disappointed' with new figures showing passenger satisfaction had fallen.

He said the research for the national rail passenger survey (NRPS) had been carried out before an improvement plan for ScotRail had started to take effect.
(Permalink) Humza Yousaf ScotRail

Scotrail's boss yesterday admitted he doesn’t have enough cash to fund a free travel scheme promised by the Scottish Government.
SNP Transport Minister Humza Yousaf announced last month that monthly and annual season-ticket holders will get a “free week” paid as a “thank-you” for their patience during disruption and upgrades.
The Scottish Government said at the time they would fund the £3million freebie.
But ScotRail boss Phil Verster yesterday told MSPs that he had been asked to pay £1.8million of it out of a railway improvement fund.
That fund is valued at £1million and the cash has already been earmarked
 for other projects.
Verster added: “We are working with the Scottish Government to understand how to fund the £3million. We’ve not finalised those conversations. I can’t vouch for whether the scheme goes ahead or not.”
Verster said he got less than three weeks notice
 of the giveaway.
Yousaf was also due to appear before the rural economy and connectivity committee but he was ill.
(Permalink) Humza Yousaf Phil Verster ScotRail

Monthly and annual season-ticket holders on Scotland’s railways will get a “free week” paid for by the Scottish Government as a “thank you” for their patience during disruption and upgrades. Scottish transport minister Humza Yousaf gave more information on the £3 million set aside for fare offers announced in the Holyrood budget on Thursday. As well as the free week for season-ticket holders, further offers for weekly ticket holders and daily commuters are also being worked on, and will be announced in the new year.


(Permalink) Humza Yousaf ScotRail

THE SNP Government is looking at putting Scotland’s railways into a co-operative, with workers and passengers taking charge of the service as part of a possible plan for a publicly owned train network.

A source close to Scotland's Transport Minister Humza Yousaf revealed the option for the future of rail after the government staged a summit with trade unions, officials, pressure groups and politicians.

The Sunday Herald previously reported that a model ministers are understood to have in mind for rail renationalisation is based on CalMac Ferries Ltd (CFL), which describes itself as a “wholly-owned subsidiary of David MacBrayne Ltd, which is wholly owned by Scottish ministers”.
(Permalink) Humza Yousaf ScotRail

The Transport Minister has met with passenger groups, unions and political parties to discuss options for bringing Scotland's railways into public ownership.
Humza Yousaf said formal engagement would begin in the new year to look at creating a public sector bid for future ScotRail franchises amid ongoing criticism of performance under current operator Abellio.
Mr Yousaf has said such a bid could be ready for 2020 when a clause in the contract with Abellio would allow it to be broken.
(Permalink) Abellio Humza Yousaf ScotRail

Scottish transport minister Humza Yousaf has called for 'immediate improvement' in Scotland's rail services as ScotRail's performance improvement plan was published in full.
The Scottish government had come under pressure from opposition parties, including Scottish Labour, to reveal the details of the improvement plan due to a plague of recent problems affecting Abellio ScotRail services, including a train breakdown near Edinburgh and overhead wiring issues near Glasgow.
ScotRail's 249-point plan includes measures to improve punctuality and reliability through various local and national initiatives such as numerous infrastructure developments, better communication with customers and the launch of an 'On Time Every Second Counts' campaign.
Yousaf, who visited Edinburgh Waverley Station before speaking at a rail conference, said that he was 'delighted' that the plan was being published, hoping that the publication will spur 'immediate improvement' in ScotRail's performance.
(Permalink) Abellio Abellio ScotRail Humza Yousaf ScotRail

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf has told MSPs that 'ScotRail has learned lessons' following a series of problems on Scotland's railways.
In an emergency statement at Holyrood, he apologised to rail passengers who have been affected by disruption.
It came on the day commuters faced severe disruption after overhead wiring problems affected services in Glasgow.
ScotRail declared a major incident after finding a broken insulator between Partick and Glasgow Central.
(Permalink) Humza Yousaf ScotRail

Scotland’s beleaguered Transport Minister has denied ScotRail is providing a poor service as thousands of commuters were again hit with delays to their train services.
Humza Yousaf admitted there were problems with the country’s rail network but argued they had to be “put into perspective”, with the vast majority of services running on time.
In the latest stage of a tit-for-tat battle with ScotRail’s Dutch operators over who is responsible, he said the company would be to blame and he would not have failed if promised improvements are not delivered.
But Holyrood’s opposition parties said his denials would “astound” tens of thousands of travellers who are fed up with the ScotRail “shambles” and compared him to one of his predecessors, who was forced to quit in 2010.
Stewart Stevenson went on TV at the time to declare that the Scottish Government’s efforts to clear snow from the road network had been “first class” even while thousands of motorists were trapped in freezing cars on motorways.
(Permalink) Humza Yousaf ScotRail

Scotland's transport minister is to invite unions and other political parties to talks next week on setting up a public sector train operator.
Humza Yousaf revealed the move after widespread criticism of existing ScotRail services.
He said the contract could be cancelled in 2020 and contingency plans were in place for the Scottish government to take over train services earlier.
ScotRail said it was working to implement a 246-point improvement plan.
Dutch firm Abellio took over the ScotRail franchise in April last year in a 10-year deal worth up to £6bn but with the option for the Scottish government to cancel it at the halfway point.
(Permalink) Abellio Humza Yousaf ScotRail

The Scottish Government’s handling of railways is under renewed attack with new figures revealing deteriorating performance and almost half of all trains failing to arrive on time at some of Scotland’s busiest stations.
(Permalink) Humza Yousaf

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf has said he will not quit amid growing criticism of Scotland's rail service.
Train drivers union Aslef called for him to be sacked following widespread disruption across the network on Thursday.
It follows growing dissatisfaction with Scotrail over delayed, cancelled and overcrowded trains.
During a visit to Glasgow's Queen Street station, Mr Yousaf said he would 'most certainly not' quit his post.
(Permalink) Humza Yousaf ScotRail

THE MINISTER in charge of Scotland’s railways left MSPs baffled as he told them he is “no transport expert” during a grilling on ScotRail’s performance.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf was ridiculed by opponents for the throwaway remark during an appearance at Holyrood’s Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee.

Neil Bibby, Labour’s transport spokesman, said: “Humza Yousaf says he’s no expert on transport – overcrowded, overpriced late-running trains will agree with him.”
(Permalink) Humza Yousaf ScotRail

A petition calling for Abellio to be stripped of the ScotRail contract, backed by about 16,000 people, is to be presented to Transport Minister Humza Yousaf.
It calls for the Scottish government to act over delays and cancellations.
(Permalink) Abellio Humza Yousaf ScotRail

THE Dutch company operating Scotland’s trains have been warned they could be stripped of their contract within months.
Transport Minister Humza Yousaf has vowed to terminate Abellio’s deal to run ScotRail if train delays and cancellations get worse.
(Permalink) Abellio Humza Yousaf ScotRail

NEARLY 14,000 people have called for the controversial Dutch firm in charge of ­Scotland’s train ­service to be stripped of their contract unless ScotRail improves.
The online petition urges the Scottish ­Government to take action against ­Abellio over the delays and cancellations suffered by commuters using ScotRail.
The firm have already been hit with £1.5million in fines for poor service, the ­Sunday Mail can reveal.
The petition and the ­experiences of 7000 ­passengers on the failing ­service will be delivered to Transport Minister Humza Yousaf at Holyrood this week.
(Permalink) Abellio Humza Yousaf ScotRail

Edinburgh's new tram-train interchange days away from completion Transport minister Humza Yousaf visiting Edinburgh Gateway Station today. Picture: Network Rail ALASTAIR DALTON Email 14:39Wednesday 28 September 2016 28 HAVE YOUR SAY The Capital’s long-delayed tram-train interchange was revealed today as transport minister Humza Yousaf visited Edinburgh Gateway Station days before its completion. The £41 million complex beside the Gogar roundabout is due to handle passengers from December when trains and trams stop there for the first time.
(Permalink) Humza Yousaf

An improvement plan to address the Borders Railway's 'unacceptable' performance has been ordered by transport minister Humza Yousaf, it was revealed today. The move came as the first-year passenger journey total for the Edinburgh-Tweedbank route was expected to top 1.4 million - around 20 per cent above target. ScotRail Alliance managing director Phil Verster and transport minister Humza Yousaf cut a cake to celebrate Borders Railway's first birthday Mr Yousaf told The Scotsman said: 'Performance on this line in my view has not been acceptable. 'I am pleased the ScotRail Alliance has put together an improvement plan. 'I will push them to do that as quickly as possible, and expect reliability to be significantly improved.' Scotland on Sunday revealed last month that train performance on the £350 million railway hit a new low at the beginning of August. ScotRail figures showed only about one in four trains - 28.4 per cent - arrived on time. Campaigners said their figures showed the situation was even worse and said the 'shocking' number of delays and cancellations had reached 'epidemic' proportions.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Humza Yousaf Phil Verster ScotRail

More money has been offered to support the reopening of two stations on the East Coast Main Line in Scotland.
Following talks with transport minister Humza Yousaf and the South East of Scotland Transport Partnership (SEStran), Scottish Borders and East Lothian councils have both increased their proposed funding for the reopening of Reston and East Linton stations.
The Scottish Borders Council has now promised £2.84m for Reston station and the establishment of a local rail service between Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed. [From Richard Buckby]
(Permalink) East Linton Humza Yousaf New station

A “well developed” transport plan is in place to deal with disruption caused by rail strikes taking place around major events like T in the Park and The Open, Humza Yousaf has said.
The Transport Minister chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government’s resilience committee ahead of the latest planned strikes this weekend and next in an ongoing dispute between ScotRail and the RMT union over driver-only trains.


(Permalink) Humza Yousaf ScotRail Strike

Major rail improvement projects in Scotland are behind schedule with costs spiralling, according to a new report.
Analysis of Network Rail's performance found the electrification of the line between Edinburgh and Glasgow is unlikely to be completed by December.
It has also made 'slow progress' on improvements to the Highland mainline and the Aberdeen to Inverness route.
Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said he was 'concerned and disappointed' by the report.
He has ordered Transport Scotland officials to carry out a review of the governance of major rail projects.
(Permalink) Humza Yousaf

The latest figures show almost 700,000 people travelled on the Borders Railway during its first six months of operation.
The usage level is 22% more than was forecast for the route from Edinburgh to Tweedbank.
Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said the passenger numbers further justified the decision to restore rail services to the region after more than 40 years.
The multi-million pound route opened in September last year.
Before the line opened, forecasters predicted it would carry almost 650,000 passengers a year.
It has already exceeded that level within its first six months.
Rail campaigners have previously described the usage predictions as 'ludicrously pessimistic' and said they were not surprised by the popularity of the line.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Humza Yousaf