ScotRail hit with £447,000 fine as standards fail to pass inspection

The operator was checked as part of Transport Scotland's Squire (Service Quality Incentive Regime) programme.

Despite the large amount the company was penalised, the fine of 446,787 for the 12 months to 25 June was actually 43 per cent lower than in the previous year.

For the year to June 2010, the firm, which is owned by First Group, was fined 785,630, while in 2009 it was fined 938,959.

Last year, the firm was criticised over train and station toilets, litter and information and announcements, while the 2009 report said there was room for improvement in areas including station seats, station lights and station shelters.

The Squire report yesterday praised ScotRail for its efforts in clearing station graffiti, as well as for the quality of station staff, ticket inspections and cleanliness on trains, and public address and customer information.

However, the company was told standards of ticket offices, the clocks and toilets in stations, train seats and train lighting all have room for improvement.

Squire is said to be "one of the toughest regimes of its kind in the UK" and measures 36 different areas which affect passengers' rail travel experience, from train cleanliness to station staff.

ScotRail is given bonuses for good performances and penalties for areas that fall below the benchmark set by Squire.

The news of the fine comes after one of the operator's trains derailed in Princes Street Gardens on Wednesday causing widespread commuter chaos at the height of the rush hour.

ScotRail managing director Steve Montgomery said: "We welcome the significant improvement in performance.

"It is a further step in the right direction and shows we are rising to the challenges set by one of the UK's toughest regimes, despite the challenges of the worst winter in 100 years.

"There is still work to be done and our focus on standards and investment in stations and on trains, and developing our staff, will continue."

Infrastructure and capital investment secretary Alex Neil added: "Transport Scotland's Squire system is one of the toughest regimes in the UK, with targets set as high as 99 per cent for aspects of rail travel which we know are important to passengers.

"Last winter was particularly challenging for rail operators and passengers in Scotland, and it is a credit to ScotRail that customer satisfaction remains higher than the UK average.

"Over the past 12 months, ScotRail has improved its performance in a number of key areas, and Transport Scotland will continue to highlight areas where further improvements are required to ensure that standards are high for rail passengers in Scotland."

Recently, ScotRail was criticised after figures showed that far fewer of its trains arrive on time than published punctuality figures show.

On some days, just half of the services run by Scotland's main train operator have reached their destination on schedule, despite their punctuality being officially recorded as more than 90 per cent.

The disparity is caused by the published figures showing trains as "on time" even if they are up to five minutes late.

Squire inspectors audit some 342 stations and approximately 200 trains every four weeks. The service areas inspected range from graffiti, toilets and timetables to train cleanliness, staff service and the public address system.

There are 36 service quality areas inspected and the inspections cover all stations in Scotland, with the exception of Prestwick International Airport, Lockerbie, Dunbar, and parts of Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central Station, as ScotRail is not the lead operator at these stations.