Meeting of the Parliament 26 February 2025
No—sorry. We are short of time.
Unsurprisingly, only one fifth of passengers think that ScotRail delivers good value for money. Polling found that 46.4 per cent of Scots thought that rail fares were too expensive.
The SNP’s nationalisation of ScotRail has been a failure by any and every measure. Nicola Sturgeon promised passengers that Scotland’s rail service would improve with Government ownership, yet things are manifestly worse than they were when ScotRail was under Abellio. Taxpayer subsidies, ticket prices and complaints have all soared while the number of services and the number of passengers using them have plummeted.
The just transition paper looks like another ploy to make the SNP look as if it is doing something while doing little—except squandering more public money. There are no projects, no priorities, no timescales and certainly no costings. The Scottish Government receives more money per capita for public services than the rest of the UK. It is high time that the SNP showed more common sense and used that money to give the public the vital services that they deserve at a cost that they can afford.
I move amendment S6M-16572.1, to insert at end:
“; notes that the operation of ScotRail has cost £600 million more compared to when it was in private hands, and that rail fares also increased by 8.7% in the 2024-25 financial year; calls on the Scottish Government to deliver value for money for taxpayers, which is a significant concern for rail users; urges the Scottish Government to increase access to ScotRail by opening new railway stations, in areas such as Winchburgh, Cove and Newtonhill, and calls on the Scottish Government to consider how a nationalised rail service can provide for all people in Scotland.”
16:16Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.