PASSENGERS and commuters face increased train fares from this morning.  Some fares on ScotRail trains will increase by 3.2% including anytime tickets and seasons tickets and off-peak fares will rise by 2.2%.

Today we examine how ScotRail is performing as it looks for the highest of standards on Scotland's railways.
 

IT was billed as the improvement plan to usher in faster trips and build the "best railway Scotland has every had".

But Dutch transport firm Abellio’s control of the ScotRail franchise has come under fire from all directions as disruption went on for a 23rd day on Hogmanay following the introduction of a new winter timetable.

The new timetable, timed to coincide with the introduction of faster and more environmentally friendly trains, were set up after railway consultant Nick Donovan carried out an independent review of the performance of Abellio and Network Rail, which is in charge of track infrastructure. 

This resulted in a series of accepted recommendations primarily to improve train reliability and to suspend skip-stopping, except as a last resort.

The Herald:

The train operator had said its new electric and high-speed trains including the environmentally friendly Hitachi Class 385 stock would allow shorter journey times, more seats and more services on updated routes to build "the best railway Scotland has ever had".

But passengers have bombarded ScotRail with complaints about skip-stopping and overcrowded trains since the timetable launched, while an estimated average of 80 services were cancelled per day in the first week-and-a-half of ScotRail’s new winter timetable.

READ MORE: The 12 days of Christmas chaos at ScotRail: New calls for an end to Abellio's 'disastrous reign'

The Donovan recommendation allowed for skip-stopping in "service recovery" and only when the operation has been put in place before a service departs.

Frustrations over the service have heightened as ScotRail were preparing to put up fares at an average of 2.8% from this week.

The Herald:

Most of the disruption that has hit Scots railways since the timetable launch was due to ScotRail staff shortages, and the train operator says that is partly because many have been undergoing training on the new trains too late to be ready for the timetable launch.

ScotRail said that was partly caused by the late arrival of the new Hitachi Class 385 and high-speed InterCity trains.

The train operator says the lag in staff training was made worse as a result of RMT industrial action over a pay dispute that lasted several weeks, and was resolved nearly four weeks ago.

Dozens more services were cancelled and the number of carriages cut on dozens more services on Hogmanay with staffing issues the main cause given again.   

READ MORE: ScotRail's flagship new trains hit the buffers as travellers suffer second day of cancellations

That's after ScotRail was told by the Scottish Government to come up with a plan to improve services or face having its contract axed. Ministers issued a Remedial Plan Notice on Christmas Eve citing cancellations in November and December as having breached required performance targets. They have the power to issue a notice if they think an operator has contravene or is likely to contravene any term in the franchise agreement.

It means an improvement plan must be delivered within eight weeks, outlining how ScotRail will resolve the problems. If any remedial agreement is unsuccessful, it could result in the termination of the franchise agreement.#

The Herald:

The Herald:

ScotRail had declared in advance of the new timetable that the flagship Edinburgh to Glasgow rail link would see the fastest journey time cut to just 42 minutes as part of a £858 million upgrade.

But a Herald analysis of the changes showed that amounted to just one train out of 173 leaving Glasgow Queen Street for Edinburgh Waverley. The 2pm train on the first working day of the new timetable, outside of rush hour, was scheduled to take 42 minutes, with the same journey just six minutes slower under the old timetable.

We found that just 18 of 173 trains are scheduled to make the daily journey from Glasgow to Scotland's capital within 50 minutes with the new timetable and none run during the rush hour - a small improvement on the seven out of 159 before the changes.

Before the new timetable chaos ScotRail had already been flooded with complaints about cancelled services and longer journey times in some areas lead to at least one MSP, Mark Ruskell who represents mid-Scotland and Fife seeking urgent talks with the transport secretary Michael Matheson over what he described as "a major cause for concern" over the timetable.

The Herald:

In October, East Dunbartonshire Council were investigating ways to improve Milngavie Station’s lacklustre rail service in the wake of Mr Donovan's improvement plan which called for urgent action to put in measures for "right-time departures".

Herald analysis shows that the percentage of on-time services which arrive within 59 seconds of their booked arrival time, at Milngavie has improved only slightly from 25.6% in the period April 30 to May 27 last year to 27.7% now and remains one of the worst rates in Scotland.

The improvement plan also wanted urgent measures to " ensure confidence" in right-time departures at Whifflet station in Lanarkshire.

Herald analysis reveals a small improvement in on-time services over the same period from 48.2% last year to 57.3% now.

READ MORE: Swift reforms needed to prevent timetable chaos on Scotland's railways

Network Rail Scotland, which manages the infrastructure, such as the tracks and signals are being probed by rail regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) as it emerged that it is responsible for two in three of the delays which has seen ScotRail forced to settle 65,000 successful claims from passengers in a nine month period before the timetable was launched.    

The Herald:

Above: How one user became frustrated during the latest round of disruption.  Below: Flashback to the height of the December cancellations.

The Herald: