Nicola Sturgeon has refused to say when normal service will be resumed on Scotland’s railways following the announcement of massive cuts to timetables.
After being challenged by Douglas Ross today, the First Minister admitted the 30% reduction in services – announced by ScotRail amid a pay dispute with drivers – was “unacceptable” but wouldn’t put a date on a full programme being restored.
At FMQs, Nicola Sturgeon also declined to say whether the SNP Government would provide compensation to businesses impacted by the reduced timetable, which means the time of the last trains from Glasgow and Edinburgh to several locations being brought forward by hours.
The Scottish Conservative leader urged the First Minister to apologise to passengers who were experiencing chaos just weeks after her government nationalised ScotRail promising “a new beginning” for our railways.
Douglas Ross insisted that – as with the ferries – the problems on Scotland’s railways had only got worse since her government stepped in. He cited a union official describing negotiations with ScotRail and Ministers as the worst of his 30-year career
Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross said: “The SNP took over the running of our rail service on April Fool’s Day - but Nat-Rail is no joke for Scotland’s passengers.
“Every day, hundreds of services are being cancelled at the last minute. From next week there will be even more cuts – 700 services lost per day, that’s almost a third.
“Yesterday the Transport Minister could not give passengers any guarantee about when these cancellations will end – and no wonder. Asked about the Scottish Government’s role in settling this dispute, Kevin Lindsay, of the train drivers’ union ASLEF, said: ‘It’s the worst negotiations I've been part of in 30 years as a union representative’.
“With such terrible handling of the negotiations by the SNP when can passengers expect normal service to resume?
“These cuts will also be devastating for businesses still reeling from the impact of the Covid pandemic. They are facing another lost summer.
“The Night Time Industries Association say the cuts will put at risk ‘both Scotland's economic recovery and the future of many thousands of small businesses and jobs’.
“What compensation is the government going to provide to the businesses who are clearly going to be affected by this?
“Last month, the First Minister proclaimed that nationalising ScotRail was a ‘new beginning’ that would deliver ‘a railway for the nation’.
“But after just seven weeks, nationalisation is already proving a disaster. As with the ferries, as soon as this government steps into sort things out, the problems get even worse.”
Notes
In a statement, NTIA Scotland called the cuts a ‘cruel blow’, warning that they would put at risk ‘both Scotland's economic recovery and the future of many thousands of small businesses and jobs’. NTIA Scotland said: "These devastating cuts to rail services will leave commuters rushing to catch early trains home, and prevent ordinary people across Scotland from travelling in to our towns and cities during the evenings. Such cuts to services, even temporarily, is yet another cruel blow for Scotland's hard pressed Night Time Economy and Cultural sector which are yet to recover from the pandemic. With these beleaguered industries facing an extremely challenging start to 2022, this news presents considerable concerns both around economic and employment impacts, and of course over the safety of customers and staff traveling home safely at night. The Scottish Government must urgently resolve this dispute or they will be putting at risk both Scotland's economic recovery and the future of many thousands of small businesses and jobs." (NTIA Scotland, NTIA Scotland Statement ScotRail Service Cuts, 19th May 2022).