Trains ‘will be classed late after only a minute’

TRAINS across Scotland’s rail network should be considered late if they are more than a minute overdue, rather than the current five to ten-minute thresholds, a report will urge today.

The report from the Scottish Parliament’s infrastructure and capital investment committee comes as the government prepares to seek new bids for the franchise currently held by FirstGroup and operated by First ScotRail.

The passenger rail franchise is one of the biggest contracts awarded by Scottish Ministers, worth nearly £1.5 billion over the course of the current spending review, and is managed by Transport Scotland.

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The committee said the “late thresholds” used by train operators “did not adequately reflect the difficulties and inconvenience caused to passengers who are on trains that arrive late but still within the relevant threshold”.

It said the current system used when measuring the percentage of trains arriving at their destination on time – the PPM (Public Performance Measure) regime – should be reduced on a phased basis, if necessary.

The latest Network Rail figures for April showed a 98.1 per cent rate for First ScotRail trains in Scotland and 86.4 per cent rate for East Coast trains.

Donald MacPhee, chairman of Railfuture Scotland, an independent rail campaigning group, welcomed moves to improve services, but warned the proposed system could still mask delays.

“A train could be late for many passengers travelling from Inverness to Edinburgh but still in theory arrive on time in Edinburgh because it is deemed just one minute late in reaching its destination.”

The other recommendations include simplifying fare structures and possibly adopting a system similar to the Oyster card in London to allow travel on all types of transport, upgrading stations and addressing overcrowding.