The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Transport chief staying put amid rail crisis claim
Train drivers’ union wants minister sacked
Humza Yousaf has insisted he is committed to his role as Transport Minister following calls for him to be removed from the post.
The train drivers’ union Aslef has urged First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to sack Mr Yousaf over what it described as a “rail crisis” in Scotland.
It follows recent concerns over the performance of train operator ScotRail and serious disruption on Scotland’s rail network in the central belt on Thursday.
The transport minister yesterday said that he is “certainly not” stepping down, and is monitoring daily a performance plan set up for the train operator.
Speaking as he monitored the morning commute yesterday, Mr Yousaf told BBC Radio Scotland: “My job is to make sure that the railways are running, to make sure that buses are as efficient as possible, to make sure our trunk road network is moving.
“I’m committed to doing that job, as you’d imagine I am. I’ll be monitoring things absolutely closely.
“Yes of course there’s an apology there for commuters that were disrupted yesterday but an assurance from ScotRail, from me, that we’re monitoring things closely and I expect improvements to happen and happen immediately.”
A train breakdown in Edinburgh on Thursday morning caused travel woes for commuters.
Ms Sturgeon apologised for the disruption after Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale raised the issue at First Minister’s Questions.
The train broke down between Waverley and Haymarket stations, which ScotRail told the First Minister was “probably the worst place in the country” for it to happen.
The incident was the latest in a string of performance problems to hit the rail network, which forced ScotRail to produce a performance improvement plan in September at the request of Transport Scotland after punctuality and reliability fell below target.
Ministers have warned ScotRail it could lose the contract if train performance does not improve.
Mr Yousaf told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “Everything is under review. If performance declines to 84.3% and that happens for a few consecutive months, then that option to terminate the contract is there. I don’t think we’re at that stage, but certainly all options are on the table.”