ScotRail has been ‘dealt a difficult hand’ by Transport Scotland on the Borders Railway and has a limited number of ‘quick fixes’ to improve its poor performance, a rail expert has told Transport Network.
Consultant David Spaven made the comments after publishing a report with fellow campaigner Bill Jamieson, which showed that services on the new railway frequently miss ScotRail’s contractual punctuality target of 92.5% of trains arriving within 5 minutes of schedule.
The Borders Railway at Galashiels Station
Mr Spaven told Transport Network: ‘While there has been an improvement in the punctuality of trains arriving at Tweedbank over the last three weeks, there has been a steady deterioration in the punctuality of Tweedbank-Edinburgh trains for the last month. The reality is that there are only so many “quick fixes” available to ScotRail, who have been dealt a difficult hand by Transport Scotland.'
He added: ‘Transport Scotland need to look at redeploying more reliable – and higher capacity – Class 170 units to the Borders, and, in the long run, investing in the infrastructure improvements which are fundamental to improving performance. That means more double track on the Borders Railway and enhancing capacity on the busy three-mile section of the East Coast Main Line from Portobello Junction to Edinburgh Waverley station.’
The report, based on performance data from the Realtime Trains website, also shows that the Edinburgh to Tweedbank service failed to meet the Public Performance Measure (PPM) on 40 weeks.
Its main conclusion is that: ‘It is extremely difficult to consistently operate the Borders Railway to timetable.’
However the authors argue that, while ScotRail operator Abellio has been the target of most media criticism: ‘It is important to acknowledge deeper underlying factors for which Abellio cannot be held responsible.’
They say it was Transport Scotland that determined ‘the constrained infrastructure specification for the Borders Railway and the decision to deploy Class 158 units – the least reliable diesel units in Scotland – for a route with steep gradients and multiple stops on every train service’.
A Transport Scotland spokesman pointed out that it had received a Performance Improvement Plan from Abellio ScotRail earlier this month, with ‘a focus on the Borders route performance’ and ‘tough targets on improvement, breach and default levels for PPM’.
He added: ‘The ScotRail 158 fleet is currently undergoing a £14m refurbishment programme, delivering significant upgrades to on-train facilities. As more refurbished trains are completed they will be rolled out onto central belt routes, including Borders, next year.'
A ScotRail Alliance spokeswoman said: ‘Borders Railway has been an extraordinary success. There have been some challenges and we’re determined to find the solutions that overcome them.'
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