Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 03 February 2022
We need more seats on trains, particularly given the potential need for social distancing.
While ministers make grand statements about the importance of tackling climate change, bringing about modal shift and reducing car use, they are failing to build back our railways. Today, the Government can vote with Scottish Labour and set out a new path to give the workforce assurances and certainty; to reject the cuts agenda; and to aspire to better for Scotland’s passengers. Disappointingly, however, it appears from the Government amendment that there will be no change in approach from the failures of the past few months. If anything, the Government is doubling down; its lengthy amendment is notable as much for what it does not say as for what it does.
Members have already heard today about the soaring cost of living. This is the wrong time to impose the biggest fare hike in a decade. A 3.8 per cent increase is hard to justify at any time, but it cannot possibly be justified now, especially when services are being diminished.
Last year, ScotRail opened a consultation on its May 2022 timetable, in which it intended to cut 300 rail services per day in comparison with pre-pandemic levels. Today, the Government amendment welcomes the restoration of 25 services,
“following the recent consultation on timetable changes”.
That would have been news to the Parliament, until ScotRail emailed us at 2.37 this afternoon with details of its new timetable. Far from increasing services, the timetable represents a cut to one in 10 services in comparison with pre-pandemic levels. It proposes 2,150 daily services in comparison with 2,400 before, which is a cut of 250; and 590,000 seats per day in comparison with 640,000 before, which is a cut of 50,000. I have no doubt that we will hear a lot of spin from the Government, but those are the facts and the inconvenient truth that it will want to ignore. The Government is confirming today that the new ScotRail will start with a vastly diminished timetable. That is wrong for passengers and for the climate, and it is wrong for SNP and Green MSPs to endorse those cuts today.
Scottish Labour is also calling for a new approach to industrial relations. Rail workers literally kept Scotland moving during the pandemic and they deserve our thanks, yet the Government amendment would delete our call for compulsory redundancies to be ruled out. That is in stark contrast to the current franchise agreement, which includes a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies throughout the lifetime of the franchise contract.
As the minister will know, there is no agreement from the workforce that the general public sector pay policy should apply to the rail sector at all. Forcing it on the workforce is regarded as an attempt to enforce pay restraint, and as an attack on free collective bargaining. Not even the Conservatives did away with free collective bargaining between unions and the operator of last resort when the east coast franchise came back in-house. To do it now makes a mockery of the SNP’s claim that the culture of ScotRail Trains Ltd will be founded on fair work. I hope that the minister will think again and reset industrial relations on our railways, because her amendment is a recipe for industrial unrest and avoidable disruption to passengers.
Scotland’s railway must be modern, but modernisation must not be used as an excuse for cuts and closures. Staff who work in booking offices do much more than sell tickets: they give advice to passengers, assist disabled passengers and make our railway more accessible. Often, station toilets and lifts are in operation only when staff are at the station. Staff grit station platforms on cold mornings, deter antisocial behaviour and are a presence that makes the railway safe, which is a concern for many, especially women who travel alone. From helping one of my constituents deal with a diabetic shock to recently saving someone’s life at Dalmuir station, staff go above and beyond. We should never underestimate the importance of our front-line staff.
ScotRail’s rush to close ticket offices, reduce their hours or close buildings entirely cannot go unchallenged. The Parliament should reject those cuts and closures.