Transport Minister Humza Yousaf: I'm no transport expert

Scotland's Transport Minister has said he is not a 'transport expert' as he defended the SNP's response to growing public anger about the state of the country's overcrowded and late-running trains.

By The Newsroom Wednesday, 2nd November 2016, 6:48 pm Updated Wednesday, 16th November 2016, 3:56 pm

Scottish Government Minister for Transport and the Islands Humza Yousaf.

Humza Yousaf drew ridicule from other MSPs at Holyrood after he made the admission while giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee today.

Questioned about train operator ScotRail, he said he had faith in the company’s £16m improvement plan which was ordered by the Scottish Government after punctuality fell below the target level of 90.3 per cent.

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However, Mr Yousaf warned that ministers were prepared to step in and take over the running of the country’s railways if ScotRail failed to make the required improvements to services.

“We have the option of the operator of last resort, but I don’t expect me to be running our railways in the near future,” he told MSPs.

Amid anger about late-running and overcrowded trains, more than 19,000 people have signed a petition calling on Mr Yousaf to make ScotRail bosses improve Scotland’s trains or strip them of their contract.

Dutch firm Abellio was awarded the ScotRail franchise in 2015 for 10 years – but ministers can strip the company of the contract after five if punctuality falls below 84.3 per cent.

Questioned on the separate issue of the Scottish Government’s £1.5bn rail improvement programme, Mr Yousaf pointed the finger at Network Rail when asked why the estimated cost of the projects had recently risen by £379m, before admitting to “not being a transport expert”.

“Humza Yousaf says he’s no expert on transport – overcrowded, overpriced late-running trains will agree with him,” said Scottish Labour’s transport spokesman Neil Bibby after the hearing.

“The Transport Minister says he has confidence in ScotRail’s improvement plan and he will now be held to account on what improvements are actually delivered.”

Jamie Greene, a Conservative MSP who serves on the committee, added: “It’s not good enough to blame Network Rail for everything. “Coming at a time when ScotRail is failing to hit performance targets, passengers have every right to be angered at the Government’s failure to get a grip of our rail system.” However, Mr Yousaf insisted that Scotland would be able to run its railways more effectively if further powers were devolved from Westminster.

“The Scottish Government has warned repeatedly that there needs to be fundamental changes in how our railways are run,” he said.

“Time and time again we have set out a full and compelling case to the UK Government for the full devolution of Network Rail to Scotland.

“Until we achieve that I am constrained to working within the limited powers at my disposal.”