THE firm which runs Scotland's railways says moves to end its contract creates "uncertainty" for staff and passengers and will "undermine" progress it has made.
Scottish Labour is to call to urge ministers on Wednesday not to extend the Abellio ScotRail contract beyond 2022.
Passengers have complained of delays, cancellations and overcrowding on the rail network.
Ahead of the Opposition Day Debate, Abellio Scotrail has said it recognises the impact poor performance has on customers’ lives but said that any change would "undermine the progress that has been made and be far more costly to the taxpayer".
Earlier this month, the Scottish Government put plans in place to run the railways as an "operator of last resort" if ScotRail's performance fails to improve.
READ MORE: Average of almost 50 trains a day cancelled by ScotRail
While the rail operator reports improvements, Scottish Labour insisted it was not enough - and has backed bringing the service back into public ownership.
Dominic Booth, managing director of Abellio UK said: “Scotland’s Railway needs stability and not the upheaval a change in the franchise would bring about.
“We have delivered more services, more seats, more jobs and more investment at less cost to the taxpayer.
“Abellio ScotRail has also invested an additional £20million to improve our performance and we are on track to deliver the Remedial Plan commitments made to Transport Scotland.
“Scottish Labour’s motion threatens not only the long term vision for Scotland’s Railway, it creates uncertainty for thousands of staff and 100 million passengers across all of our communities.
“Any change would be far more costly to the taxpayer and will fail to deliver the benefits of this once in a generation investment.”
READ MORE: Labour forces vote on ending ScotRail deal 3 years early
In a briefing paper, Abellio said that the railway network was being used more than ever before, serving nearly 100 million passengers a year.
Abellio said that since First ran the railways, there had been a 9% rise in services, 23% more seats, 13% more staff and that the taxpayer subsidy was 20% less.
"We have overcome the late delivery, by suppliers, of 80% of our new trains and kept customers moving during Network Rail failures on track and signalling, delays to Network Rail projects such as the 20 week Queen Street tunnel closure and major weather disruptions like the recent flooding," Abellio said.
In March, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a remedial plan put into place by ScotRail was its "last chance saloon".
Abellio said: "We know the impact poor performance has on customers’ lives, and it is no surprise that there has been anger and frustration. Abellio has invested an additional £20m to improve our performance and we are on track to deliver the Remedial Plan commitments made to Transport Scotland."
It said it had invested £475m in 96 new or refurbished trains, tickets, wifi and stations.
"Performance is improving, and more improvements are planned for the remainder of the franchise. Any change would be far more costly to the taxpayer and will fail to deliver the benefits of this once in a generation investment," the train operator said.
In 2014 Abellio won the £6bn franchise to run ScotRail services for a decade..
But ministers can end this franchise three years early if it is felt the operator is not delivering on its commitments.
Speaking at the Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said there should be public ownership of public services.
He said there is "no place" for the "profit motive" in bus services, prison service or in the asylum system.
"It should have no place in our railways either, which is why I am today announcing that the Scottish Labour Party will force a vote in the Scottish Parliament as early as next week to end the Abellio franchise of ScotRail," he said.
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