Yousaf to make ScotRail statement to MSPs
- Published
Scotland's transport minister is to explain to MSPs how he plans to improve the country's train services.
It follows calls from opposition parties for Humza Yousaf to make an emergency statement at Holyrood amid widespread criticism of ScotRail.
Mr Yousaf said his statement would also allow other parties to discuss how rail services could be improved.
At the weekend, he said wanted to put together a "viable" public sector bid for the ScotRail franchise.
Scottish Labour has said passengers were "fast losing confidence" in Mr Yousaf, who has faced calls to quit over the punctuality and reliability of the country's trains.
Dutch firm Abellio took over the ScotRail franchise in April last year in a 10-year deal worth up to £6bn but with the option for the Scottish government to cancel it at the halfway point.
But ScotRail was forced to produce a performance improvement plan in September, at the request of Transport Scotland, after punctuality and reliability fell below standard.
A train breakdown in Edinburgh last Thursday caused widespread disruption for commuters, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon apologising for the situation.
The latest performance data showed 86% of ScotRail trains were on time or less than five minutes late between 16 October and 12 November.
'Need for improvement'
Abellio has said that under the contract, ministers determine fares and seat numbers "and therefore how much overcrowding exists across the network".
Mr Yousaf, who is due to make his statement to Parliament on Wednesday, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that he had urged Abellio to bring forward up to £8m of investment in the railway to improve services.
He added: "What I'll be saying is highlighting some of the 246 individual actions that are in the improvement plan.
"Services and standards have not been to the acceptable standard that I expect.
"The Scottish government and my job is to make sure that passengers get the best possible service, so I'll be outlining some of those actions that have happened, are happening and are going to happen to improve performance in our railways."
Humza Yousef (right) recently spoke to rail passengers in Glasgow about their experiences of ScotRail
He has also warned that failure to improve services by 2020 could result in Abellio's contract being removed and potentially replaced with a public sector franchise bid.
He added: "What we've said and the manifesto commitment is that a public sector operator would then put in a public sector bid and that would have to be competitive so it would have to compete with private companies in the same way publically-owned Calmac had to compete with a private company and came out on top and won a contract."
'Less spin'
Scottish Labour transport spokesperson Neil Bibby said: "Exasperated commuters deserve to hear from him about how the SNP will fix this mess.
"Performance has deteriorated since ministers received an improvement plan in September, but to date Mr Yousaf appears to have been more interested in photo calls than providing answers to the travelling public. We need less spin and more substance.
"When the SNP awarded the contract to run our railways to Abellio, SNP ministers said it was a 'world leading' deal. It is clearly nothing of the sort, and that is why it is right that MSPs have the chance to quiz the minister on behalf of rail travellers."
A broken-down train in Edinburgh caused severe disruption across the rail network last week
The Conservatives said Mr Yousaf needed to give detailed answers to his "back of a fag packet" plans for rail nationalisation.
The Tories said any plan to renationalise the ScotRail contract may not be possible until 2022, and published 10 questions which it said Mr Yousaf needed to answer.
The party's Murdo Fraser said: "It's clear that Humza Yousaf's half-baked plan for rail nationalisation was cooked up in a TV studio in order to deflect attention away from his handling of the ScotRail contract.
"He is throwing a bone to the rail unions who have demanded his resignation. If this is a serious proposal, he needs to offer some clear answers to parliament on how exactly it would work.
"How much would it cost taxpayers? Who would pay for new trains? Either Mr Yousaf can answer these questions, or we will know for sure his plans were scribbled over the weekend on the back of a fag packet."
'Public backlash'
Separately, rail union RMT has called for urgent talks with Mr Yousaf on public ownership of the railways.
General secretary Mick Cash said: "He has fired the starting gun on a programme for bringing ScotRail into the public sector and it's now time for his words to be turned into action. Any failure to now deliver, and any dragging of heels, would rightly provoke a massive public backlash."
Charlotte Twyning of Abellio UK, said it would have "no problem" competing with public bids for Scotland's rail contract.
She added: "However, it should be recognised that half of the rail industry is already nationalised in the form of Network Rail and any operator that runs the ScotRail franchise - public or private - does so to a tightly specified Scottish government contract.
"Ministers set fares and essentially determine how many seats are available and therefore how much overcrowding exists across the network.
"We acknowledge that the performance of the ScotRail Alliance is not good enough, but we are working hard with our clients - Transport Scotland and the Scottish government - to make the changes necessary to improve the service to rail passengers. We are also encouraging Network Rail in particular to raise its game."