Nationalised Rail Services (Performance)

I have some excellent news for Mr Kerr, who was one of the biggest opponents of the nationalisation of Scotland’s rail network. He will be glad to know that it massively outperforms the Great Britain average. That is good news, and I am sure that he will welcome it.

Mr Kerr is so cynical when it comes to nationalisation. He could, of course, have stood up and welcomed ScotRail’s successes, but he chose not to do so, as everyone in the chamber will be aware. He did not talk about the record 8.5 million journeys that took place on ScotRail trains in July, which is a very positive story. He did not talk about the scrapping of peak rail fares or the fact that, in the north-east, where we both live, the high-speed trains will be replaced by refurbished class 222 trains. He did not talk about the 66 new suburban trains for the west coast.

Mr Kerr does not want to talk about Scotland’s success stories. He simply wants to talk Scotland down.

When I was on a train to Balgray for the opening of the new station, I had the opportunity to speak first hand with a whole host of ScotRail staff, whether they were the good folk who keep the trains clean, the folk who sell the tickets or some of the folk in the back offices. They all do a phenomenal job to keep our railways running. We should be incredibly proud of the work that they do. I will continue to support them in this role and will work very closely with the unions over the period ahead to ensure that our staff are given the respect that they rightly deserve.

There is absolutely no suggestion that there will be a reduction in services on the high north line. David Green’s question affords me the opportunity to outline that two things can be true and good news at the same time. It is good news that we have introduced a £2 bus fare cap to ensure that people can afford to travel on buses during a cost of living crisis, and we should recognise that it is good news that we have removed peak rail fares. We have provided the investment to deliver both, because we recognise that, during these tough times, people in the high north of Scotland and elsewhere across our nation deserve support from their Government. That is exactly what we have provided, and I am very proud of that fact.