Abellio will receive over £6bn in tax payers money over the 10 years of the current ScotRail franchise contract. Only two months into the contract however they have slashed Sunday services by a third.
Co-sign my letter calling on Transport Minister, Derek Mackay MSP, to intervene.
Dear Transport Minister
In October 2014 your predecessor, Keith Brown MSP, hailed the deal to award the ScotRail franchise to Abellio as a "world-leading contract for passengers and staff". Two months into their contract the service has came off the rails.
Abellio have managed to lose the confidence of all rail trade unions in two short months, are planning big job losses and a dispute over the availability of drivers has saw them cut Sunday services by a third. Maybe your Government will now regret rushing to award the contract, and the re-privatisation of Scotland's rail services, despite calls from Labour and trade unions for the tendering process to be delayed to allow our railways to be brought back into public ownership.
The ScotRail contract is worth over £6bn to Abellio over its ten year duration. That's taxpayers money that Abellio are receiving to deliver rail services to Scots. For that reason you, as our Transport Minister, cannot sit back and watch as the franchise decends into a shambles. It is time you intervened to protect our rail services and support our rail staff.
Kind Regards