Kezia Dugdale tackles First Minister on ScotRail performance
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale called on Nicola Sturgeon to apologise after a train breakdown in Edinburgh caused travel chaos for commuters on top of ScotRail's ongoing performance troubles.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale called on Nicola Sturgeon to apologise after a train breakdown in Edinburgh caused travel chaos for commuters on top of ScotRail's ongoing performance troubles.
The train broke down between Waverley and Haymarket stations on Thursday morning, which ScotRail told the First Minister was "probably the worst place in the country" for a breakdown.
The incident was the latest in a string of performance problems to hit the rail network, which forced ScotRail to produce a performance improvement plan in September at the request of Transport Scotland after punctuality and reliability fell below target.
Ms Dugdale said during First Minister's Questions at Holyrood: "I think the commuters would like to hear an apology from the First Minister. Rail passengers don't feel like they've seen any sort of improvement over that six-week period.
"Last week ScotRail cancelled trains because it expected the rails to be slippery, due to excessive moisture. Rain in Scotland, who could have predicted that?
"But for Scotland's rail passengers, this isn't a laughing matter any more. Overcrowded trains, delayed trains, cancelled trains - that's the SNP's idea of a world-leading deal for passengers.
"Isn't it clear more than ever that Labour's policy for a 'People's ScotRail' run for passengers, not for profit, is the best solution for Scotland?"
She said performance figures for ScotRail on Wednesday were 79% compared to a target of 91%, meaning more than one in five trains failed to arrive on time, while for rural areas this was 60%. MSPs heard the more long-term figure is around 89%.
Ms Sturgeon said: "I am sorry for the disruption that was caused this morning and also sorry for this disruption that any passenger faces on any day of the week. That's ScotRail's position and it is also mine.
"ScotRail have a responsibility to ensure the safe running of trains and it's easy to make jokes about moisture but they have that responsibility and they have to discharge that responsibility.
"In terms of the wider issues, I absolutely accept that things are not good enough and that is why the improvement plan is in place and that is why we will stick with that until things are running to a standard that the public have a right to expect."
She pointed out that Labour was in power at Westminster when it blocked SNP calls to change legislation to allow public sector bids on the railways, subsequently changed after pressure from the SNP.