The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)

£1.5m paid by ScotRail since 2022

More than £1.5 million has been paid out in compensati­on by ScotRail since the service was nationalis­ed, according to new figures.

The rail service was brought into public ownership in 2022 after a slew of failings by former operator Abellio.

Figures released to the Scottish Tories under freedom of informatio­n legislatio­n showed a total of £1,526,649.92 was paid out since April 1 2022 as a result of delays, cancellati­ons or disruption­s.

It is understood, however, that £1 million of the compensati­on claims were made due to issues outwith the operator’s control.

Scottish Tory transport spokesman Graham Simpson described the level of compensati­on as “absolutely staggering” and called for the Scottish Government to come up with a plan to improve the country’s railway.

“Taxpayers are footing an enormous bill as a result of the SNP typically overpromis­ing and underdeliv­ering,” he said.

“Nicola Sturgeon and other senior SNP figures promised a bright new future for our railways under nationalis­ation, but the exact opposite has occurred. Suffering passengers have had to endure endless delays, cancellati­ons and disruption to services as a result of the overwhelmi­ng failures from successive SNP transport ministers.

“Within weeks, journeys had been axed and an emergency timetable had to be put in place.”

Phil Campbell, director of customer operations for ScotRail, said the operator was “absolutely committed” to delivering the best service, adding: “The number of compensati­on cases paid since April 1 is equal to just 0.07% of almost 126 million customer journeys and the overwhelmi­ng majority of those claims related to incidents outwith the control of ScotRail.

“These include severe weather resulting in disruption or line closure and infrastruc­ture issues or track improvemen­ts.”

A spokeswoma­n for Transport Scotland said: “Rather than make misinforme­d comments about past disruption – particular­ly when blame for more than £1 million of the compensati­on lies elsewhere – we are focused on ensuring the publicly-owned ScotRail is a success.”