SEVEN ScotRail trains every day skipped stations last year, new figures show.
Transport Scotland figures show 2660 trains missed their stops in 2019, an increase of 500 on the previous year.
The figures were revealed by Transport Secretary Michael Matheson in response to a question from John Finnie of the Scottish Greens.
The practice sees scheduled trains pass a station without stopping in an attempt to make the final destination on time. It can be used to help operators meet performance targets and prevent delays.
Finnie said the increase of stop skipping is “extremely disappointing”.
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He went on: “Folk rely on our rail services for work, education, and so much more and it is simply unacceptable that this level of inconvenience occurs. It is not unreasonable to expect that your train calls at all the stations advertised. Everyone accepts that delays and cancellations will happen from time to time on a busy network, but this should be minimised.”
Finnie added “there are times when deliberately bypassing stations could be financially advantageous for the operator” and called on Matheson to ensure Abellio, the Dutch-state owned firm which holds the ScotRail franchise, does not continue the arrangement when its contract ends.
The Scottish Government last month decided to strip Abellio’s contract three years early, in 2022, due to poor performance and passenger complaints.
A ScotRail spokesperson said: “Missing out stations is never done to meet targets or for financial gain. If a train fails to stop at a scheduled station then it automatically fails to meet our very challenging targets.
“We completely understand that this doesn’t make it any less frustrating for our customers when it happens and we do everything we can to minimise services or stops being cancelled.
“It’s a very rare occurrence for a train to miss a stop, and is only done as a last resort measure to limit knock-on disruption to customers across the wider network.
“Compensation is available for customers who are delayed by 30 minutes or more as a result of a missed stop or cancellation.”
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