Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 03 February 2022
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 promising start by giving some very straight answers to questions in the chamber but, today, she has hunkered down somewhat. However, she says that she is in listening mode, so I will take her at her word.
I thank Labour for bringing this important debate to the chamber. We are at an important junction for the rail industry. It is a fork in the line where we can either do better or have more of the same. The problem is that we do not know where we are heading, because we have had no vision from the Scottish Government. Whether members would like a nationalised rail industry or not, we do not know what that is going to mean. We do know that there will be cuts in services and ticket offices and that Abellio has been doing the SNP’s dirty work by preparing the ground for all that.
On the subject of ticket offices, in my region alone, East Kilbride station will lose up to five hours a day; Airdrie, which is a busy station, will have five hours cut from Monday to Saturday; and the office in Cumbernauld, another big town, will be open for only 90 minutes a day, Monday to Thursday, and not at all on Friday.