An East Kilbride councillor has slammed a Scottish Government minister who blamed Labour for poor ScotRail services.
Long-term railway campaigner and Central North Labour councillor Joe Fagan has been bidding to raise awareness of late arrivals and packed carriages facing commuters at East Kilbride, Hairmyres and Thorntonhall stations.
At the moment, Network Rail is responsible for railway infrastructure and is accountable to Westminster, not Holyrood.
Clydesdale MSP Aileen Campbell recently urged her Westminster counterparts to give Scotland full control as part of the on-going national ‘rail review’.
The SNP representative for areas including Strathaven hoped a new approach would “ensure our railways deliver for all passengers in Clydesdale”
She said: “The SNP in government has consistently called for the full devolution of rail services, but successive Labour and Conservative governments have repeatedly denied Scotland a full say over how its railways are run – talking a good game while doing absolutely nothing to deliver the powers we need.
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“The rail review gives us an opportunity for meaningful change. Full devolution of services currently under the control of Network Rail would help to improve performance on the railways and allow for a coherent, joined-up approach to transport.”
However, Councillor Fagan blasted the “petty, partisan tone” and said it would not help “the future of Network Rail.”
He said he was more concerned with issues such as “cancellations, delays and overcrowding” that have blighted the East Kilbride Scotrail service.
“Whether we’re talking about services in rural Lanarkshire or commuter services on the East Kilbride line, ScotRail’s performance has simply not been good enough,” Mr Fagan continued.
“The Scottish Government today has extensive and wide-ranging powers over rail services and Network Rail’s funding and priorities, not least because of the devolution that had already taken place under the last Labour Government.
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“The problem is that instead of using those powers to deliver a modern, reliable transport system, the SNP have presided over a crisis on the railways.
“Aileen Campbell is a minister in the government responsible for the botched ScotRail deal with Abellio and she should be thoroughly ashamed that ScotRail has just posted its worst performance since records began.
“Instead of picking fights with pro-public transport parties like Labour, she should be demanding that her SNP colleagues actually do their job and deliver the improvements to local rail services that passengers have been promised.”
