A TEENAGER has told how he lost his apprenticeship because train delays left him late for five weeks running.

David Taylor thought his route to a dream job had begun when he secured a business administration apprenticeship. However, the 18-year-old lost his place when rail problems left him repeatedly late.

Yesterday he was among three members of campaign organisation

38 Degrees to present Transport Minister Humza Yousaf with a 19,500-strong petition calling for action on ScotRail.

The petition calls on the Scottish Government to “get tough on ScotRail or strip them of their contract”.

Stewart Kirkpatrick, head of

38 Degrees in Scotland, said: “From commuters in Glasgow to schoolkids in Aberdeen, people across the country are saying their experience of the trains is not good enough.”

Taylor, from Hillington on the outskirts of Glasgow, was working in Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire when train delays threw his apprenticeship off track.

A major programme of works to upgrade track between Glasgow and Edinburgh was under way and David decided to “go early and get there on time” to beat delays.

However, he said the service he needed was “never on time” and could be cancelled within a minute of its scheduled departure time.

He is now out of work and says he understands why bosses would not keep him on, but added: “I’m angry that it was because of something outwith my control.”

Student Aqsa Jawaide, 19, and marketing business owner Christopher Graham also took part in the hand-over and met with Yousaf to discuss their concerns.

Following the meeting, Taylor said: “I wanted to meet Humza Yousaf to find out why I had experienced so many cancellations that I lost my apprenticeship. It’s not acceptable for anyone to lose their job because of a company’s mistakes.”

Yousaf has already indicated that the Scottish Government could use the five-year break clause in the ScotRail franchise if the current holders do not meet necessary standards.

Directors of the ScotRail Alliance – a partnership between train firm Abellio ScotRail and track operator Network Rail – will meet the media today to update reporters on the current “performance improvement plan”.

Phil Verster, managing director of Abellio ScotRail, said customers will be “impressed” with changes to come, including new trains.

He said almost 90 per cent of services are either on time or under five minutes late, putting the company just under its own target, and said strains had come from a rise in passenger numbers.

Verster said: “I definitely want us to be in a better place with train punctuality performance.

“We’re around 0.7 per cent off where we want to be and we are putting an incredible amount of effort to recover that performance because we know how important that is.”

Capacity problems caused by a “massive increase” in travellers is said to have led to “more and more to trains running slower”. However, 200 carriages will be added to the fleet over the next two years.

Verster said: “Punctuality will be addressed over the next few months and has already improved in the last four weeks.

“We are only about 11 months away from the first new trains being introduced on the railways – it’s not two years, it starts in a year’s time.

“Our customers are going to be significantly impressed with our transformation in the next couple of years.”

Last night Yousaf said: “It’s important to recognise that ScotRail journeys are up by a staggering third compared to 2007, with 95.5 million journeys last year alone. We know there is room for improvement, but there are foundations in place.”