More than 17,000 ScotRail trains cancelled in a year

More than 17,000 ScotRail trains were cancelled in the last year, a Freedom of Information request has found. | Jane Barlow/PA Wire

More than 17,000 ScotRail trains were cancelled in the last year, a freedom of information request has found.

The data, released after a request by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, found 17,491 services were cancelled in 2024/25.

Some 306,120 trains did not arrive within a minute of their scheduled arrival time, which the party said accounted for 45% of all trains.

Another 71,691 were late by five or more minutes – around 10% of all trains.

Jamie Greene, the Lib Dem transport spokesman at Holyrood, said the Scottish Government must deliver a transport system that works for all of Scotland.

READ MORE: Rail chaos as tree hits overhead line near Waverley

He said: “When it is done right, train travel is swift, reliable and reduces traffic on our roads.

“Unfortunately these figures show that a considerable number of passengers are shelling out huge sums of money to travel by train, only to find that some services simply don’t arrive.

“It’s more than three years since the SNP Government took over responsibility for Scotland’s trains but we are still seeing tens of thousands of trains cancelled or running late.

“If we want to coax people out of their cars, that has to start with a service that runs on time.”

READ MORE: The place in Scotland where 94% of people travel by ScotRail

Mr Greene urged the Government to work with ScotRail to drive down train delays.

Major disruption was experienced on the network on Saturday after a tree in Princes Street Gardens fell on an overhead line near Waverley around 9.30am.

Trains were delayed from Edinburgh to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness, with services to the Borders and Fife also affected.

The tree was removed and repairs carried out to the line by Network Rail engineers by around 1pm with ScotRail reporting that disruption was likely to continue on affected routes until 5pm.

In light of the Freedom of Information figures on cancelled trains and delays, Mark Ilderton, ScotRail’s service delivery director, said the firm operated more than 2,100 services a day, with around nine out of 10 meeting the punctuality target.

He added: “Cancellations can be for a number of reasons, many of them outside the control of ScotRail, but represented less than 3% of more than 650,000 services we operate across the country over the course of the year.

“We know how frustrating it is when a service is cancelled or delayed, and that is why everyone at ScotRail is working hard to deliver the safe and reliable railway that our customers expect and deserve, and to encourage more people to travel by train instead of using the car.

“With more than nine out of 10 customers satisfied with our service according to Transport Focus, the independent watchdog for transport users, it’s testament to the hard work of ScotRail staff in delivering a safe, reliable and green railway.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “These cancellations for the period reported represent 2.1% of all ScotRail services.

“Train performance and passenger satisfaction in Scotland is consistently higher than the GB average – but we will keep making improvements so more people choose to travel by rail.

“While our ability to invest and improve services is impacted by ongoing UK Government spending decisions, we have invested over £12 billion in rail infrastructure in Scotland since 2007 with a further £1.5 billion investment planned for this financial year.

“Fare increases are lower than elsewhere in the UK, and we’re permanently removing ScotRail peak fares from 1 September 2025.

“This move will help people with ongoing cost-of-living pressures, eradicate child poverty and tackle the climate emergency by saving existing rail passengers money, including parents, and encouraging new, potential passengers on to the train and to leave the car at home.

“The Scottish Government believes fundamentally that a fully devolved and integrated railway, publicly controlled and operated in the service of the people of Scotland and truly accountable to them, will deliver better and more efficient services for our people and our communities.

“We will keep pressing for full devolution of all the powers over rail infrastructure and to have full powers to nationalise Scotland’s railway.”