Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 03 February 2022
03 Feb 2022 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
ScotRail
I would like to make progress.
With more people working from home, weekends are now the busiest times for rail travel, so returning to pre-pandemic timetables makes little sense. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that ScotRail announced this afternoon that, from May this year, 150 more services will be added, compared with December last year. That equates to around 2,150 daily services, a move that I hope members will welcome.
Throughout the pandemic, to ensure that services continued to run, to give employment security for staff and to cover operating costs, the Government provided more than £500 million of additional funding to our franchises via emergency measures agreements. Those measures were extended and are now in place until the end of February. Overall, funding for our franchises has been, on average, over three times more than would have been expected had revenues not been so severely impacted.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
I remind members of the Covid-related measures that are in place. Face coverings should be worn when moving around the chamber and across the Holyrood campus...
Neil Bibby (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
After 25 years in the private sector, ScotRail will finally return to public hands on 31 March. Scottish Labour welcomes the return of ScotRail to public own...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
Would the member accept that, before Covid, 77 per cent of the seats on trains were empty? Does he not think that that needs to be addressed?
Neil Bibby
Lab
We need more seats on trains, particularly given the potential need for social distancing. While ministers make grand statements about the importance of tac...
Fulton MacGregor (Coatbridge and Chryston) (SNP)
SNP
Will Neil Bibby give way?
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The member is about to conclude.
Neil Bibby
Lab
I would gladly have given way. Our railways need new leadership. The decisions that the Government makes now will have an enormous bearing on ScotRail’s fut...
The Minister for Transport (Jenny Gilruth)
SNP
I welcome the opportunity to debate the future of Scotland’s railway. That future will have a new beginning on 1 April when ScotRail passenger services come ...
Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
The current budget cuts nearly £80 million from rail maintenance and renewal. What impact will that have on the efficiency of the rail service?
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
I believe that Mr Kerr’s party voted against the budget. Setting that aside, I do not accept the point that he made. The Government has made record investmen...
Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green)
Green
Does the minister recognise that many ScotRail workers are concerned that the protections that they currently have against compulsory redundancy might be und...
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
The Government has always respected collective bargaining. However, I am sure that members will respect the fact that the chamber is not the place where such...
Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con)
Con
Will the minister give way?
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
I would like to make progress. With more people working from home, weekends are now the busiest times for rail travel, so returning to pre-pandemic timetabl...
Neil Bibby
Lab
I recognise the role that the minister played in the Levenmouth rail campaign to reopen that part of the railway. I recognise and welcome what she said about...
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
I am not digging in on anything—I am setting out the Government’s view. However, when I meet ScotRail next Tuesday, I will raise some of the concerns around ...
Graham Simpson (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
I will start by doing something that I should have done previously, which is to welcome Jenny Gilruth to her new role. I had thought that she had made a prom...
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
Does Mr Simpson accept that the way in which people buy their train tickets in 2022 has changed compared with 30 years ago? The last time a consultation was ...
Graham Simpson
Con
Things have changed a lot since 1992, but, as was outlined earlier, the need for personal service has not changed; we require that in some stations. We need...
Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
Had the amendment in my name been chosen this afternoon, it would have called on the Scottish Government to expand eligibility for railcards, so that everyon...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
We move to the open debate. 16:14
Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I remind members of my entry in the register of interests. I welcome the minister to her new post and ask her, as she takes it up, to take a fresh look at t...
Jim Fairlie (Perthshire South and Kinross-shire) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome Jenny Gilruth to what I think is her first debate as the transport minister and offer her my congratulations. The motion opens by welcoming the ...
Graham Simpson
Con
Could the member tell us what improvements he wants to see under a nationalised ScotRail?
Jim Fairlie
SNP
I do not work in railways, so I will leave the improvements to the railway sector and the people who actually know what that they are talking about. I am qui...
Finlay Carson
Con
Will the member take an intervention?
Jim Fairlie
SNP
Yes, I will.
Finlay Carson
Con
A few short months ago, the previous transport minister inadvertently misled Parliament by suggesting that the number of trains to Stranraer was going up whe...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Mr Fairlie, you have 30 seconds left.
Jim Fairlie
SNP
The initial understanding and expectation was for equal funding from both the Scottish and Westminster Governments—£200 million each—Laughter. If Mr Carson’s...