Leader comment: ScotRail must up its game

ScotRail is far from Britain's worst rail company '“ as the widespread public uproar over certain services in England clearly demonstrates.

ScotRail needs to halt an alarming slump in punctuality

But anger in Scotland appears to be on the rise following an alarming slump in punctuality. There was more than an 11 per cent chance that a train caught between 27 May and 23 June would arrive at its destination more than five minutes late, according to new figures, compared to eight per cent in the same period last year.

And the situation has now got progressively worse for ten months in a row. It should be noted that ScotRail is not directly responsible for all of the problems, as it is Network Rail’s job to make sure the track is in serviceable condition.

However, ScotRail needs to up its game in the areas that it does control and put pressure on its Network Rail partners to do better.

Passengers who buy tickets should be able to rely on trains to get them to work or school on time – they will vote with their feet if they cannot. And taxpayers also contribute nearly £800 million towards railways so our elected representatives need to ensure standards are kept high.