Nearly £2.5m in compensation paid out by ScotRail since nationalisation, Tories say

Nearly £2.5m has been paid out in compensation by ScotRail since the operator was nationalised, figures have shown.

A freedom of information request by the Scottish Conservatives found £2,495,426.28 has been paid out through the delay repay scheme since 2022.

That includes £803,991.61 that was paid out in 2022/23, £908,392.89 that was paid out in 2023/24 and £783,041.78 was paid out in 2024/25, although that figure only goes up to February 12 this year.

ScotRail was brought under public control by then first minister Nicola Sturgeon following a slew of failings by former operator Abellio.

Sue Webber, the Scottish Tories’ transport spokeswoman, said the “eye-watering” figures were a “damning reflection” of the SNP’s “mismanagement” of the transport provider.

Scottish Tory MSP Sue Webber accused the SNP of ‘incompetence’ over its handling of ScotRail (Fraser Bremner/Daily Mail/PA). PA Media

She said: “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: “ScotRail operates more than 2,100 services every day, with around nine out of ten of those services running on time, and getting customers to where they need to be.

“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.

“Through our delay repay guarantee, anyone delayed by 30 minutes or more is entitled to claim money back through the ScotRail website or mobile app.

“We are absolutely committed to delivering the best possible service for customers throughout the country and everyone at ScotRail is working hard to deliver the safe and reliable railway that our customers expect and deserve, and to encourage more people to travel by train instead of using the car.”

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.

“Train performance and passenger satisfaction in Scotland is also consistently higher than the GB average – we will keep making improvements, so more people choose to travel by rail.

“While our ability to invest and improve services is impacted by ongoing UK Government spending decisions, we have invested over £12 billion in rail infrastructure in Scotland since 2007 with a further £1.5 billion investment planned for this financial year.

“Fare increases are lower than elsewhere in the UK, whilst also providing a 20% discount on season tickets and permanent extra benefits on flexipasses.

“The Scottish Government believes fundamentally that a fully devolved and integrated railway, publicly controlled and operated in the service of the people of Scotland and truly accountable to them, will deliver better and more efficient services for our people and our communities.

“We will keep pressing for full devolution of all the powers over rail infrastructure and to have full powers to nationalise Scotland’s Railway.”