Public affairs manager, Laura Hyde-White, reports on the challenges and opportunities facing ScotRail three years into public ownership. This article was originally written for The Herald and is published in full here. See the original article at The Herald.
Scotland’s railways have long been a backbone of our communities — linking people to work, education, and leisure while offering a critical environmental alternative to car travel. This April will mark three years since ScotRail entered public ownership, with the objective to deliver ‘an affordable, sustainable, customer-focused rail passenger service in a post-pandemic world’.
Yet as we approach this milestone, the question remains:
Has public ownership improved passenger experience, aligned with government climate goals, or advanced Scotland’s broader transport ambitions?
So far, signs suggest that political motivations and optics may have taken precedence over passengers.
ScotRail’s performance: successes and setbacks
Let’s start with a positive: the electrification of routes in the Central Belt has been a success story, delivering efficiency, reliability, and environmental benefits. However, beyond these gains, ScotRail has struggled to recover its passenger base and provide the robust service required for a modern public transport system.
Who uses the railways?
Despite being well past the peak of the pandemic, who travels by train and when has drastically changed since 2020. Traditional commuting has diminished due to the rise of remote and hybrid working, while demand for leisure travel and flexible travel times has grown. Given that the number of passenger journeys has so far failed to return to levels from 5 years ago – a 16% drop compared to pre-COVID figures — it is clear that ScotRail hasn’t fully adapted to these changing habits.
“ScotRail has yet to fully adapt to post-pandemic travel patterns, with passenger journeys still 16% below pre-COVID levels.“
Moreover, with services and amenities reduced — including fewer onboard catering options and constrained luggage capacity — the passenger experience, and ultimately patronage, has suffered.

However, recovery success stories like SNCF, France’s state-owned railway, which capitalised on local tourism, expanded low-cost services, and adjusted train frequencies to match declining commuting demand, show that rail networks can successfully rebound and adapt to evolving travel patterns.
Fair fares
Scots face some of the highest rail fares in Europe, with prices rising above inflation while car travel remains comparatively cheaper and more convenient. The Government’s off-peak fare trial was a step in the right direction—removing confusion over when you could travel and eliminating the financial penalty of peak-hour journeys, a premium car users don’t face. Yet its short pilot, piecemeal extensions, and eventual abandonment squandered a valuable opportunity to encourage sustained rail use and reduce traffic on our roads.
“Making fares more affordable and easier to understand would help attract more people to choose the train, in turn making public investment in the railways more cost-effective.“
Simplifying ticketing removes a common barrier to choosing to travel by train. Flat-fare ticketing, recommended by Transform Scotland and proposed in the Scottish Government’s Fair Fares Review, highlights the potential for a simpler, fairer pricing system. Making fares more affordable and easier to understand would help attract more people to choose the train, in turn making public investment in the railways more cost-effective.
Lacking strategy
Essentially, the Scottish Government has taken ScotRail under state control but hasn’t then taken the accompanying action which would allow it to succeed in getting people to shift from car to rail. While the move to nationalisation provided an opportunity for government intervention, the first step of the state-owned operation was to cut services, a stark contrast to the Abellio franchise, which, despite its failings, broadly maintained its contracted service levels. This highlights a key challenge with state ownership — while it offers the potential for raising standards, it does place it more at jeopardy should the Government decide that it wants to cut rail spending in order to shore up other public services.
Moreover, tackling car dependency is crucial to meeting the Scottish Government’s targets. With the railways now government-owned, we’d expect to see greater cohesion between improving rail services and facilitating traffic reduction. Recent research indicates that Scotland needs to shift around 6 billion car passenger kilometres a year to public transport, walking, and cycling by 2030. To meet this goal, it will require more than doubling (110%) of rail passenger kilometres compared to pre-Covid levels. We need to see a coordinated and targeted plan for doubling rail demand and encouraging people to catch the train instead of driving their car.
“State ownership of ScotRail was an opportunity to drive change, but cutting services instead of investing in rail demand highlights a fundamental misalignment with Scotland’s traffic reduction and climate goals.“
Focusing efforts where the biggest impact can be made is critical. The Edinburgh-Glasgow corridor presents a prime opportunity — ample rail capacity and a congested M8 offer fertile ground for interventions like car-parking charges and price incentive schemes to encourage a shift from car to rail. More targeted strategies like this could deliver meaningful growth without entering into the polarising debate about rising transport costs for people living in rural areas.

The Government’s spending priorities are misaligned here. It has committed to spending in excess of £6 billion on new road capacity on the corridors from Perth and Aberdeen to Inverness. Yet no similar ambition exists for the parallel rail routes. The Highland Main Line has been left with infrastructure that the Victorians would recognise, while an Aberdeen City Deal promise that £200 million would be spent on faster line speeds north of Dundee has been reneged upon.
Ageing infrastructure
ScotRail has one of the oldest train fleets in Britain. On key intercity routes, the reliability of the Inter-City 125 fleet has been a persistent disappointment, leading to overcrowding and service disruptions. These failures ripple across the network, with reallocation of trains from other routes, like Fife, causing further disruption and passenger frustration.
“ScotRail has one of the oldest fleets in Britain.“
Rural lines face equally significant challenges. Iconic routes like the West Highland and Far North lines remain plagued by outdated infrastructure and limited amenities, despite Scotland’s scenic railways holding immense untapped potential. Scotland is home to rural lines running to its impressive western coastline, which are frequently featured in international travel guides as must-see destinations. Yet, these routes are often served by some of the most basic and outdated trains, lacking the comfort and services that overseas visitors might expect.

Political positioning vs strategic planning
ScotRail’s transition to public ownership was hailed as a political triumph, yet no clear objectives or business case were established to guide its future. Unlike the previous private franchise model, where public consultations and tender assessments set transparent expectations, nationalisation came with vague promises of transparency but no measurable goals.
“This vacuum of strategic direction has led to fragmented priorities…“
This vacuum of strategic direction has led to fragmented priorities among stakeholders. Politicians, customers, and even ScotRail itself have been left to independently define what success should look like, creating an unclear picture of progress.
Putting passengers first?
If ScotRail is to thrive, its strategy must centre on passenger-centric solutions that address the real needs of passengers while supporting wider government objectives:
- Simplify fares: Confusing pricing structures remain a barrier to rail use
- Prioritise user experience: Future train replacements must prioritise passenger comfort, accessibility, onboard catering, and adequate storage for bikes and luggage
- Improve service reliability: Persistent issues with ageing rolling stock and unreliable services must be addressed to rebuild public confidence and accommodate growth
- Invest strategically: Continuous, sustained investment in electrification is non-negotiable if Scotland is serious about ending its reliance on fossil fuels and modernising its transport network
What next?
Bringing ScotRail into state ownership was a bold move —one that has the potential to drive meaningful improvements for passengers and the environment. But without clear goals or proper investment, that potential has stalled. Political manoeuvring has replaced strategic action, leaving passengers with outdated trains, unreliable services, and confusing fare experiments.
“Political manoeuvring has replaced strategic action, leaving passengers with outdated trains, unreliable services, and confusing fare experiments.“
We must see a clear, coordinated strategy with associated long-term investment to ensure our railways are a national success story rather than a symbol of missed opportunity.