ScotRail have announced that performance measures show that 9 out of 10 ScotRail Trains arrived within the target time in the last 12 months.
ScotRail is held to account for a Public Performance Measure. This means that trains must arrive within five minutes of their scheduled time. They must have also stopped at all of their scheduled stations.
Figures revealed by ScotRail have shown that 90.4% of trains met the target meaning that ScotRail remains one of the best performing large train operators in the UK, alongside Arriva Trains Wales
Despite this success, the performance falls below the very high standards expected of ScotRail. The improvement target for the past twelve months is set at 90.8%.
In order to provide these high standards, Nick Donovan, an expert in the railway industry, will undertake an independent review to provide the additional resource to help ScotRail improve.
The biggest incidents which impacted ScotRail in the past 12 months were:
- 27 December – Technical issues with signalling works on the Edinburgh – Glasgow lines as well as frozen points.
- 15th December 2017 – Signalling control failure. Early morning failure sent all signals to red.
- 11th December 2017 – Train failure outside Glasgow Central.
What did the officials say?
ScotRail Alliance managing director Alex Hynes said “Despite the challenges of recent months, ScotRail remains the best performing large operator in the UK. For nine out of ten of our trains to have met the target time over the past year is a strong foundation on which to build. But because we want to deliver even more for our customers, and because we rightly expect the highest standards, we will come forward with a performance improvement plan. Our customers deserve a better and more consistent service from us, and we are determined to deliver that.”
He added “The investment we are making across the country will help to build the best railway Scotland has ever had. The introduction of electric trains on the Edinburgh-Glasgow via Falkirk High route in December was an important milestone as we prepare for the arrival of our brand new Class 385 Hitachi electric trains. These trains will deliver more seats, faster journeys, and better services for customers in the Central Belt. Our high-speed trains, which will be introduced between Aberdeen and Edinburgh this year, will ultimately connect Scotland's seven cities.
“The major upgrade between Aberdeen and Inverness will enter its next phase in the coming months, which will improve the service we provide to customers in the north of Scotland. And our recent investment in the south of Scotland is providing an extra 1,500 seats and ten extra services each day between Dumfries and Carlisle. This shows that our exciting plan to build the best railway Scotland has ever had applies to the whole of Scotland.”
- Visit the ScotRail Website
For more information
Unlike other train operators such as Southern, Greater Anglia, Virgin Trains East Coast and Northern that have their trains running late. Greater Anglia and Southern are the worst ones.