SCOTRAIL has shelled out almost £2.5million in compensation to passengers since it was nationalised three years ago.
The SNP government brought the train operator into public ownership in April 2022.
ScotRail has paid out nearly £2.5million in compensation to passengers since April 2022[/caption]
Scottish Tory shadow transport secretary Sue Webber has branded the payouts a “damning reflection” of the SNP government’s nationalisation of the rail operator[/caption]
But the service has been mired by cancellations and delays, while payouts to frustrated customers have been rising since the takeover from the private firm Abellio.
FOI data obtained by the Scottish Conservatives show ScotRail’s delay repay process handed out £803,991 in 2022/23, £908,392 in 2023/24, and £783,041 in 2024/25 – totalling £2,495,426 in compensation.
Tory shadow transport secretary Sue Webber branded the figures “eye-watering” and said that the increasing payouts each year are a “damning reflection” of the SNP’s management of the rail service.
The amount of compo paid out for delays between 30 and 59mins has increased every year since 2022.
In 2022/23, £88,120 was paid to customers, with £103,722 in 2023/24 and £107,969 given to passengers in 2024/25.
More than £1.5m in compensation was paid out over delays of 120mins and over since nationalisation.
Scottish Conservative shadow transport secretary, Sue Webber, said: “The eye-watering level of compensation payments are a damning reflection of the SNP’s mismanagement of ScotRail.
“Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP colleagues promised a bright new dawn for Scotland’s railways when nationalising them three years ago, but the reality for passengers has been entirely different.
“They have had to endure endless cancellations and delays to services, yet fares have soared at the same time.
“Taxpayers are ultimately the ones who have picked up this bill for millions of pounds in compensation because of the SNP’s incompetence, and the tab is only heading in the wrong direction.
“SNP ministers love to try and encourage Scots to ditch their cars and onto trains but their failures will be doing nothing to achieve that.
“The nationalisation of ScotRail is another example of the SNP’s big state approach that fails to deliver value for taxpayers and is miserably failing to ensure passengers have trains they can rely on.”
Mark Ilderton, ScotRail service delivery director, said: “We know how frustrating it is when delays or cancellations occur, and when that does happen, it is only right that compensation is paid to customers who experience disruption to their journey.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “ScotRail has fewer delay compensation claims per passenger compared to Great Britain as a whole with cancellations lower now than pre-nationalisation, with approximately 17 claims per 100,000 passengers in the 12 months to September 2024.
“This compares to approximately 50 claims per 100,000 passengers on average for Great Britain. Many claims are for track engineering works caused by Network Rail which is the responsibility of the UK Government.”
