THE Labour party continues with its pressure to end the Abellio ScotRail contract and bring the service into public ownership. It is true that 14% of trains operated by Abelio have been five or more minutes late and that on a number of services trains have been overcrowded. However, delays are due in part to temporary disruption due to current massive investment in electrification and other improvements.
Overcrowding is due in part to increased passenger demand, which will be alleviated by the investment in additional more capacious and faster trains currently on order. These significant improvements cannot be achieved overnight and while we await their full implementation, some disruption is inevitable.
As for bringing the contract into public ownership, the Labour party should be careful what it wishes for. Half of Scotland’s ferry services are operated/owned by state-owned Caledonian MacBrayne and CMAL, whose reputation for reliability is no shining example and whose ability to control costs over the last half century is even worse than the UK’s record on defence procurement. In comparison, Abelio are performing as well any operator could in the circumstances and indeed above the UK average. Nationalisation is no panacea.
Roy Pedersen
Inverness
READ MORE: Labour call for renationalisation ahead of MSPs ' ScotRail contract vote
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