More than £330k spent on taxis to replace cancelled ScotRail services

The Scottish Liberal Democrats said money was being ‘wasted’

Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

More than £330,000 has been spent on taxis to replace cancelled rail services since ScotRail was taken into public ownership.

Freedom of information requests submitted by the Scottish Liberal Democrats to ScotRail show the total amount paid to private taxi and vehicle hire services for replacing a cancelled train between April 2022 and September 2023 was £331,061.

The single most expensive journey was a fare of £798.30 from Wick to Inverness, calling at all stops in between, by an eight-seater taxi. The operator also highlighted a journey from Inverness Station to Forsinard via Wick then Thurso, which cost £549.94.

The highest fare since March 2023 was from Glasgow Queen Street to Fort William and back, taking passengers in both directions. The cost of this was £666.36.

Jill Reilly, the Lib Dems’ transport spokeswoman, said: “This is money that should be available for updating trains, carriages and stations, giving hardworking commuters and rail users the quality service they need. Instead rail users will fear bank-busting fare hikes in January.

"The trialled abolition of peak fares will never achieve its goals if ministers simply give with one hand and take with the other.

“Ministers repeatedly stressed that nationalising ScotRail would improve accountability. If that’s the case then ministers need to explain why so much money is being wasted.

“The Scottish Government must work with ScotRail to cut down their reliance on expensive and inefficient replacement transport services and deliver the rail service that taxpayers and travellers pay for."

Phil Campbell, ScotRail’s head of customer operations, said it was “absolutely committed to providing the best possible service for our customers”.

He added: “We know how much of an inconvenience it is to customers when things don’t go to plan, and we have an obligation to help people get to where they need to be when that happens.

“The use of taxis as alternative transport is a measure of last resort which we only use when we are unable to get people to their destination by rail, replacement bus, or through ticket acceptance on other public transport.”

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “At time when everyone in Scotland’s railway has been focused on ensuring the best festive service with more bank holiday trains than ever before – this attack is misplaced.

“Despite extreme weather events and strike action caused by the UK Government’s confrontational approach to industrial relations, cancellations remain low at around an annual average of 2.8 per cent of all services. That’s fewer cancellations than the period immediately before public ownership.

“It is right that ScotRail makes every effort to get disrupted passengers to their destinations, whether that’s because of planned improvement works or unforeseen events.

“We are committed to growing the success of ScotRail despite the challenging financial circumstances – that is why we have extended our peak fares removal pilot and continue to work with ScotRail to develop fares initiatives that will encourage greater rail use.”

Around 70 per cent of the spend on replacement taxis is understood to have been a result of planned engineering works, carried out by Network Rail.