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The Caledonian Sleeper has paid out close to £3 million in compensation since it was nationalised by the SNP in 2023, the Scottish Conservatives can reveal.

Freedom of information requests by the party have uncovered that £492,845.81 was paid out for 30-minute delays, £1,937,022.54 was paid out for one-hour plus delays, and £296,482.40 was paid on manual delay repay.

This amounts to a total of £2,726,350.75 that has been spent reimbursing travellers who have been let down by a service that is often delayed.

Scottish Conservative shadow transport secretary Sue Webber MSP said that, just like their botched ScotRail nationalisation, it appears the SNP are making a mess of running the Caledonian Sleeper.

She added that the Nationalists’ incompetence in running Scotland’s rail services is driving people back into their cars.

Scottish Conservative shadow transport secretary Sue Webber MSP said: “The SNP promised that nationalising our sleeper service was the best option. But these figures show that passengers are being let down by a service that’s too often late and taxpayers are picking up the tab for compensating them.

“As with their botched ScotRail nationalisation, it appears the SNP are making a mess of running the Caledonian Sleeper.

“Shelling out almost £3 million on reimbursing travellers is the last thing we can afford at a time when the SNP’s financial mismanagement is leading to swingeing spending cuts and tax rises.

“Rail users have consistently been let down by the SNP failing to deliver on their promises. Their incompetence is driving people back into their cars and onto the roads.

“If the SNP insist on nationalising Scotland’s rail services, they must make sure they’re able to efficiently run them – instead of running them into the ground.”

Notes to editors

The Caledonian Sleeper came back into public ownership on 25 June 2023. Transport minister Fiona Hyslop said the decision to take the service into public ownership came amidst “substantial uncertainty regarding future market conditions and the pace and impact of the [previous] UK government’s rail reform process.” (BBC, 25 June 2023, link). 

The Caledonian Sleeper has paid out £2,726,350.75 in delay repay compensation since it was nationalised in 2023. £492,845.81 was paid out for 30-minute delays. £1,937,022.54 was paid out for one-hour plus delays, and £296,482.40 was paid on manual delay repay. (Scottish Conservative FOI, Available on request).