Tag: railways

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‘Alarming’: ‘Scots’ newspaper tries to suggest Scots nationalised railway provider is to blame for pay-outs for service disruption caused by UK Government-owned Network Rail

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Headlining in the Herald today, the above, and: The publicly-funded owner of Scotland’s railways has had to pay out £220m in compensation over five years to train operators including ScotRail because of disruption to services, The Herald can reveal. The huge bill is £106m higher than what was allowed for in Network Rail’s delivery plan which outlines the activities, expenditure and proposals for the maintenance, renewal, and operation of the nation’s mainline railway infrastructure. You’d be forgiven for thinking this has something to do with the Scottish government but in reality it’s all to do with failures by Network Rail, … Continue reading ‘Alarming’: ‘Scots’ newspaper tries to suggest Scots nationalised railway provider is to blame for pay-outs for service disruption caused by UK Government-owned Network Rail

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Update to BBC Scotland and Alex Cole-Hamilton – Nearly two-thirds of delays are due to UK Network Rail which then compensates ScotRail to enable it to pay passengers less than 1p per on average from its own funds

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Cole-Hamilton off the rails From https://x.com/Caymanguy1234: Network Rail pays ScotRail if they are at fault. I wonder how much ScotRail received, compared to the payout to passengers? I haven’t been able to do that precisely but this is helpful. From Train Operating Company key statistics April 2022 to March 2023, Office of Rail and Road in August 2023: Network Rail was responsible for 410 942 minutes of delays due to infrastructure faults while ScotRail was only responsible for 241 688, in 2021-2022. In 2022-2023, it was 483 533 and 275 963. https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/2244/scotrail-key-statistics-2022-23.pdf Network Rail was thus responsible for 63% of … Continue reading Update to BBC Scotland and Alex Cole-Hamilton – Nearly two-thirds of delays are due to UK Network Rail which then compensates ScotRail to enable it to pay passengers less than 1p per on average from its own funds

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How a ‘Scotland Edition’ is completely off-track and failing to tell you that Scotrail is 96% on time

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Today’s iWeekend title page, clearly completely ignorant and unconcerned, to provide Scots with the truth. What is the truth? ScotRail has been named as one of the most reliable train companies in the UK in a new study. Analysis of official figures for the UK’s 24 major train operators, focusing on the percentage of train journeys either cancelled or delayed by 15 minutes or more, showed ScotRail with the fourth best performance. The study said on average 3.61 per cent of ScotRail journeys between January 2021 and September 2023 were seriously late or cancelled. The study was carried out by travel … Continue reading How a ‘Scotland Edition’ is completely off-track and failing to tell you that Scotrail is 96% on time

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Rail fares are lower in Scotland

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The Herald is headlining: ScotRail customers face huge price hike as peak fare scheme comes to an end after an experimental, pilot, scheme, cancelled on 20 August 2024, came to an end today. The experiment was unsuccessful: A government trial which scrapped peak-time rail prices ends on Friday after almost a year. The Scottish government previously concluded the costs did not justify continuing the trial as it had not achieved its aim of persuading people to swap car journeys for rail travel. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9vpgzv4x34o Neither the Herald nor BBC Scotland want you to know this: Fares and fares increases remain, on … Continue reading Rail fares are lower in Scotland

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BBC Scotland announce UK Labour to re-nationalise the railways….even though they’re already re-nationalised here

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the railways is expected. BBC Scotland this morning, tell us that around half of the draft bills in the King’s Speech will apply ‘here in some shape or form’ including re-nationalising the railways (mibbe). What, again, like you told us more than two years ago? They remember that all too well but are hoping you don’t so that they can suggest UK Labour will be doing this good thing for you. How’s that earlier re-nationalisation going in Scotland? Not so strangely, BBC Scotland don’t seem to have this: SCOTRAIL is one of the UK’s most reliable train operators, a new … Continue reading BBC Scotland announce UK Labour to re-nationalise the railways….even though they’re already re-nationalised here

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Train drivers, doctors and teachers all expected to work but only in Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson From the Guardian today: Rail passengers across England will face significant disruption on Friday as train drivers at five operating companies carry out industrial action. The 24-hour strike will be the first of three days of rolling strike action being taken by the train drivers’ union Aslef, with services on Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway all affected. Yesterday, from the Guardian: Teachers in England and Wales could strike again as early as September, according to the head of the UK’s largest education union, who warned of “growing frustration” within the profession … Continue reading Train drivers, doctors and teachers all expected to work but only in Scotland

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England’s railways pay out nearly SEVEN times more than ScotRail in compensation for cancellations and delays to flummox Graham Simpson

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Talking-up Scotland costs nothing so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ or take out a subscription to the Scots Independent newspaper in which I have a column, at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/product-category/subscriptions/ Not for the first time, helpfully thick, the Scottish Conservative’s Graham Simpson announces gleefully, after another freedom of information request we all paid for: ScotRail has paid out a staggering £1.5 million in compensation for cancelled and delayed trains since the SNP took over the rail service. Taxpayers are footing an enormous bill as a result of the SNP overpromising and underdelivering. https://twitter.com/ScotTories/status/1767528542101799226 In the Insider, Simpson, describes this as ‘absolutely staggering.’ Remember those … Continue reading England’s railways pay out nearly SEVEN times more than ScotRail in compensation for cancellations and delays to flummox Graham Simpson