ScotRail have announced that passenger numbers travelling on ScotRail services have increased by a third in the past 10 years.
Passenger journeys on ScotRail services increased from 74.2 million in 2007/2008 to 97.8 million in 2017/2018 – an increase of 23.5 million in just ten years.
ScotRail is investing £475m in new trains, whilst Network Rail is investing £2bn in new infrastructure. These investments will bring the following to passengers in Scotland:
- Brand new Hitachi Class 385 electric trains;
- Electrification of the Central Belt;
- Upgraded Class 43 High-Speed Trains
- Redevelopments of stations around Scotland including Glasgow Queen Street and Aberdeen
- Reduced journey times between Aberdeen and Inverness.
What did the officials say?
Alex Hynes, ScotRail Alliance Managing Director, said:
“Scotland's railway is undergoing the biggest transformation since Victorian times, and these new figures show why that is necessary. Travelling by train is increasingly popular in Scotland, and we need to deliver a railway that can keep pace with customer demand.
“Supporting more than 97 million journeys each year is a complex task, but it is one that our people carry out with pride every single day.
“The investment we are making in brand new and upgraded trains, better stations, and improved infrastructure is key to delivering the service our customers expect. It's all part of our plan to build the best railway Scotland has ever had.”
Humza Yousaf, Minister for Transport and the Islands, said:
“The Scottish Government has a genuine commitment to investing in our railways to encourage passenger growth. These latest figures are a clear indication that our investment in improving infrastructure, rolling stock, and services is having a positive impact.
“With even more projects coming to fruition in the coming months and years, we expect to see this upward trend continue as even more people leave the car behind in favour of the train.”
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For more information
Do hope that the Class 385’s could enter service bit earlier than December. ScotRail were hoping to operate the Class 385’s from July before they pushed it forward to December.
Because of the issues with the windscreen windows that has caused controversy and the drivers declined to operate the new trains until they found the solution to replace the windows in the driver cabs with new ones and to refit it to all 70 of the Class 385’s.
I’m hoping that the Class 385’s could start passenger service from October or November instead of December. Once the electrification has been completed in Central Scotland.