Abellio ScotRail,[2] operating services under the name ScotRail, was the national train operating company of Scotland. A subsidiary of the Netherlands-based transport conglomerate Abellio, it operated the ScotRail franchise between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022.
In October 2014, Abellio was selected by Transport Scotland to take over the franchise from the incumbent operator First ScotRail. On 1 April 2015, Abellio ScotRail commenced operations. On 6 September 2015, it ran the first services on the newly-opened Borders Railway. In conjunction with the wider Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme, Abellio ScotRail introduced the Class 385 electric trains, which were faster and had more capacity than preceding diesel traction on the route; however, short-term difficulties with the new fleet led to disruption and delays. The operator was also unable to introduce its new Intercity timetable due to the late than planned delivery of refurbished Inter7City trains. Following the completion of the Inverness - Aberdeen Improvement Plan, a new hourly service was launched by Abellio ScotRail between these two cities.
During January 2017, the Scottish government and Abellio ScotRail's management publicly disagreed over the funding of a government-directed scheme; Phil Verster, the managing director of Abellio ScotRail and the ScotRail alliance, resigned shortly thereafter. On multiple occasions through the franchise period, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) organised industrial action, including strikes, that negatively impacted Abellio ScotRail's operations, to the point where Sunday operations were mostly abandoned over a seven month period in 2021. On 20 January 2017, the managing director of Abellio ScotRail and the ScotRail alliance parted ways with the company. During December 2019, it was announced by the Scottish government that Abellio ScotRail's franchise would end in 2022 due to alleged poor performance. The franchise ended on 31 March 2022 and was replaced by ScotRail, an operator of last resort (OLR) owned by the Scottish Government.
History
In November 2013, Transport Scotland announced that Abellio, Arriva, FirstGroup, MTR Corporation and National Express had been shortlisted to bid for the new ScotRail franchise.[3] In October 2014, the franchise was awarded to Abellio.[4][5][6] The franchise was set to operate for a seven year period, although provisions were included for a three-year extension contingent on the operator fulfilling various performance criteria.[5] On 1 April 2015, Abellio began operating the ScotRail franchise.
On 6 September 2015, Abellio ScotRail opened the Borders Railway, a non-electrified largely single-track line roughly following the alignment of the northern part of the long-closed Waverley Route.[7][8] During its first month of operations, 125,971 passengers travelled on the Borders Railway, far in excess of projections. As a result of overcrowding, Abellio ScotRail quickly started running trains with up to six carriages at peak hours and leased additional parking space near Tweedbank station.[9]
In June 2016, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) announced that train conductors would be going on strike several times during the summer months in protest at the running of greater numbers of driver-only operated trains.[10] During June and July 2016, a total of six 24-hour and three 48-hour strikes were conducted by staff working for Abellio ScotRail. An agreement was reached in September 2016 that brought an end to the dispute and therefore service disruption. It was agreed that the new Class 385 trains would have the doors controlled by both the driver and the conductors, the driver opening the doors while the conductors closing them.[11]
During January 2017, the Scottish government and Abellio ScotRail's management clashed over a government-directed scheme to compensate rail passengers for disruptions on the rail network with free tickets; funding for the scheme had not been agreed before the government publicly spoke on the effort leading to tense talks between management and MSPs.[12] That same month, Phil Verster, the managing director of Abellio ScotRail and the ScotRail alliance, abruptly stepped down from his role shortly following the compensation scheme dispute being publicised.[13][14] Several days later, Alex Hynes was named as the company's new managing director.[15]
In April 2018, Abellio ScotRail announced that it would be implementing all 20 recommendations produced by an independent review of the company's operations, headed by the former TransPennine Express managing director Nick Donovan. These recommendations included reviews of managerial and operational planning arrangements, root cause analysis of infrastructure failures, greater use of remote monitoring, clarifying responsibilities for key systems such as GSM radios, better performance modelling, ring-fencing of planning resources, elimination of unnecessary key performance indicators, and a new focus on system performance improvements at the control room level. A stated intent of these recommendations was to bolster punctuality amongst other performance criteria.[16]
During March 2021, it was announced that the RMT union would ballot conductors for an indefinite overtime ban following Abellio ScotRail's refusal to pay its conductors overtime payments for working on rest days; this action led to no services being run on many routes. One month later, ticket examiners were balloted for the same dispute, the majority of trains operated by ScotRail did not run on Sundays as a result. During October 2021, a deal between the union and the operator was reached, bringing an end to the dispute and restoring Sunday services thereafter.[17]
Abellio ScotRail reportedly failed to meet the performance criteria necessary to gain a three-year extension to its franchise period; according, it was announced during March 2021 that the franchise would be terminated on 31 March 2022.[18] In Abellio's place, the state-owned operator of last resortScotRail took over operations.[19][20]
Operations
Services
Abellio ScotRail took over all of the services operated by First ScotRail on 1 April 2015, except for the Caledonian Sleeper services, which were transferred to a separate franchise operated by Serco.[21] The franchise agreement required the introduction of 'Great Scottish Scenic Railway' trains on the West Highland, Far North, Kyle, Borders Railway and Glasgow South Western lines. Steam special services were also promoted by Abellio ScotRail.[22][23]
The planned implementation of Abellio ScotRail's new Intercity timetable had to be postponed due to the delayed delivery of ScotRail's refurbished Inter7City trains, along with the introduction of the Edinburgh - Arbroath and Montrose - Inverurie commuter services. As a result, the stopping pattern of Glasgow/Edinburgh to Aberdeen services was irregular, making calls at many stations at which there is now a frequent stopping service. The improved Glasgow/Edinburgh to Inverness timetable will be introduced along with the Glasgow/Edinburgh to Aberdeen timetable from December 2020.[citation needed]
Following the completion of the Inverness - Aberdeen Improvement Plan, an hourly service was operated by the company between the two cities; furthermore, half hourly services were provided between Elgin and Inverness/Inverurie and Aberdeen that served the two recently-opened stations at Dalcross and Kintore. A selection of Inter7City services also commenced operation between Inverness and the Central Belt via Aberdeen, which only called at a couple of stations between Inverness and Aberdeen.[citation needed]
Abellio ScotRail operated a diverse fleet of DMUs, EMUs and loco-hauled stock. From 10 December 2017, Class 380 EMUs were introduced onto services between Glasgow and Edinburgh via Falkirk High (also serving Croy, Polmont, Linlithgow and Haymarket). This was the first step in creating an entirely electric service between the two cities which was expected to start in October 2018 with Class 385 EMUs, which should have entered service in December 2017, but were subsequently delayed due to a windscreen fault.[needs update][28][29]
Early on in the franchise, Abellio ScotRail publicly stated its intention to introduce a brand new fleet of 46 three-car and 24 four-car Class 385 electric trains from December 2017, which would operate services on the lines that were being electrified as part of the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme.[30][31] However, various issues were encountered, including with the rail infrastructure itself but also the trains (mainly related to software and windscreen issues),[32][33] as well as staff training,[34] that delayed the Class 385s entry to service. To cover for the shortfall in rolling stock, Abellio ScotRail hired 10 Class 365 units from Great Northern. These interim trains entered service in June 2018.[35]
From October 2018, Abellio ScotRail introduced former Great Western RailwayHSTs on services between Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness, branded as "Inter7City" in reference to Scotland's seven main cities.[36][5][37] The Mark 3 coaches were all outfitted with refurbished interiors, one of the most substantial changes was the replacement of slam doors with powered doors. There were a total of 26 sets: 17 five-car and 9 four-car trains.[36] As with the Class 385s, there were delays in getting the refurbished trains into service. As a result, some HST sets were pressed into service without refurbishment to allow for others to have refurbishment completed. By May 2020, ScotRail was operating an entirely refurbished HST fleet.[citation needed]
This new rolling stock resulted in ten Class 156, eight Class 158 and 21 Class 170 sets returning to their leasing companies when their leases expired in 2018.[38]Transport Scotland negotiated to retain an extra 13 Class 170s to support services through Fife to Aberdeen, the Fife Circle Line (replacing the Class 68/Mark 2 sets), and the Borders railway.[39]Arriva Rail North received five of the 156s, all the 158s and 16 of the Class 170s.[40] Five Class 170s (170416-170420) moved to East Midlands Railway in 2020.[41]
This new rolling stock resulted in ten Class 156, eight Class 158 and 21 Class 170 sets returning to their leasing companies when their leases expired in 2018.[38]Transport Scotland negotiated to retain an extra 13 Class 170s to support services through Fife to Aberdeen, the Fife Circle Line, and the Borders railway.[39]Arriva Rail North received five of the Class 156s, all 8 of the Class 158s and 16 of the Class 170s.[40] Five Class 170s (170416-170420) were transferred to East Midlands Railway in 2020.[41]
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