Customers first

Published on 05/02/2013 00:00

While I agree with Gordon Casely’s comment regarding Transport Scotland (Letters, 2 February), it is perhaps too much to expect the operator, First ScotRail, to refer “passenger misery” upwards to the civil servants of Transport Scotland.

These are, after all, its ­“customers” – the people who will make a judgment on who gets to operate the franchise next time round.

Would you risk upsetting them?

But then again, Transport ­Scotland can only spend the amount of money the politicians give it.

Perhaps if the format for train operation was run as a concession, rather than a franchise, there would be less “civil service” control.

If the operator is in charge of train specification etc, it would hopefully be more responsive to the public – its real customers.

Peter Kinnear

Dundee Road

Meigle, Perthshire