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Punctuality of new train services improving, says ScotRail

16 January 2019

 

Services on Scotland’s railway are becoming more punctual as more drivers and conductors receive training for using new routes and the new class 385 electric trains, says ScotRail.

The train operator reports that punctuality is at its best since September, and the performance for period 10 (9 December – 5 January) is better than the same period the previous year.

Scotrail says that 84.2% of its services met the rail industry standard public performance measure, arriving at their destination within 4 minutes and 59 seconds of their timetabled arrival time, having called at all scheduled stations.

Improvements have been reported in a several areas: 

Ayr services have returned to their previous levels of performance following the full reopening of the line in December.

Changes to the timetable from 9 December 2018 have resulted in more on-time departures from Milngavie.

The Edinburgh to Glasgow route has seen its best performance since August.

More than 96% of trains on the Paisley Canal route met their punctuality target.

The two incidents that had the most impact on the performance of the ScotRail Alliance – a partnership between Network Rail Scotland and ScotRail - for the period involved train crew issues at Edinburgh and an overhead wire fault at Hyndland.

ScotRail states that, despite the improvement in punctuality, there have been challenges in recent weeks, including daily services being cancelled to allow drivers and conductors to be trained on new trains (pictured left) and new routes, and the late delivery of trains by suppliers, including Hitachi and Wabtec, meaning very limited time available for driver and conductor training.

Work continues to train conductors and drivers, and since 9 December 2018, 90 drivers and conductors have been trained – with more than 20 being trained every day throughout January and February to return service to acceptable levels, says ScotRail.

There was also an overtime and rest day working ban, now resolved, by the RMT trade union, which made the training problems worse, the train operator adds.

Transport Scotland has requested a remedial plan from ScotRail, which will be submitted by 18 February – outlining the plan for improving performance.

ScotRail Alliance managing director Alex Hynes says: “This has been a challenging time for Scotland’s railway. While we know that our performance has not been good enough, it is encouraging to see our punctuality continuing to improve across the country.

“Everyone at the ScotRail Alliance is working flat out to provide customers with the service they deserve. We are training more than 20 drivers and conductors every day, and this will deliver continual improvements in the coming weeks and months.”

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