ScotRail not surprised at being judged one of the worst train operators in the UK

The survey by the consumer association Which? came before the train operator, run by Dutch transport firm Abellio, was issued with an improvement notice on Christmas Eve over the massive disruption to rail services following December's new timetable launch that had breached required performance targets.

Which? found that one in four ScotRail commuters found travelling by train frequently stressful and nearly one in five said they missed out on time with family and friends. And one in 10 said they faced additional childcare costs because of the train delays they had faced.

Distrust of the rail industry continued to climb among Scottish passengers now standing at 26 per cent, seven percentage points higher than a year ago.

Which? said the train operator, whose services account for 95 per cent of passenger journeys in Scotland, achieved a "dismal result" in the October survey, rating poorly across a number of categories, achieving just two stars for punctuality, reliability and value for money.

It performed marginally better in several other categories, receiving three stars for aspects such as customer service and the condition of carriages.

Northern and Thameslink, whose passengers suffered as a result of disastrous timetable changes last year, were the lowest ranked operators, alongside Southern Railway. All three achieved a customer score of less than 40 per cent.

Which? said that it believes Scotrail’s improvement plan must address the "systemic problems that blight their services", with a clear focus on acting on some of the main areas of passenger concern highlighted in the survey.

Alex Hayman, Which? public markets managing director said: “It’s clear that ScotRail passengers aren’t at all happy with the service they’re receiving on a daily basis.

“If faith in the company is to be restored, it must listen to passengers who have too often been an afterthought.

“ScotRail’s improvement plan must deliver results that work for passengers and address the chronic issues identified in our survey.”

Scottish Labour’s transport spokesman Colin Smyth called for a fares reduction as a result of the latest findings. He said: “It really is a case of ScotFail in the eyes of Scotland’s hard pressed passengers.

“They are sick and tired of being ripped off by fare hikes in return for delayed, cancelled and overcrowded trains."

Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Jamie Greene added: "This will make for entirely predictable and depressing reading for ScotRail and commuters alike.

"Strict targets on performance and punctuality should be properly adhered to and enforced. It's time to show some leadership."

Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Mike Rumbles said: "The Scottish Government had an opportunity to put this right in the autumn but ministers were more concerned about bad publicity than addressing passenger needs.

"Instead of warning Abellio ScotRail of fines and a withdrawal of the contract unless rail performance improved, it decided the company would have a free pass to ignore penalties for missing targets until June 2019.

"It is no good blaming Network Rail, which operate across the whole of the UK, when it is only ScotRail that is plummeting in the UK rankings."

Passengers bombarded ScotRail with complaints for weeks about hundreds of cancellations, delays, skip-stopping and overcrowded trains for weeks since the chaotic December 9 timetable launch.

Most of the latest disruption was blamed on ScotRail staff shortages, with the train operator saying 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 environmentally friendly Hitachi Class 385 and high-speed InterCity trains.

The new timetable, timed to coincide with the introduction of faster and more environmentally friendly trains, was 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.

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

Earlier this week a poll, of more than 1000 people for Censuswide Scotland, found more than half of Scottish rail commuters now struggle to afford full fares. It also follows a January hike in fares of 2.8% on average but 3.2% on the anytime full fares and season tickets used by regular commuters working the old standard 9-5 day.

A ScotRail spokesperson said: “We always listen to feedback from our customers and do what we can to improve the service we offer.

“The overall satisfaction score from the Which? survey is disappointing, but not surprising given the challenges we have faced in recent months.

“Everyone at ScotRail is working flat out to deliver the improved service our customers expect and deserve.”

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “ScotRail’s performance, in terms of cancellations and reliability, over the last 12 months hasn’t been good enough – that’s undeniable and why we took the serious contractual step of issuing a remedial plan notice, and we now expect to see improvements."