ScotRail

ScotRail operates trains across the whole country of Scotland including between Scotland’s 7 cities, as well as Great Scottish Scenic Railway trains in the Highlands, Borders and South West. The ScotRail network comprises more than 350 stations and 9 depots.

During the corona virus pandemic, ScotRail’s priority remained the safety of passengers and employees. A number of timetable changes were brought in to comply with government public health messages and advice on travelling on public transport to allow key workers to travel and maintain a safe physical distance while they carried out their essential work. Meanwhile, there have been continued improvements for customers including the ongoing redevelopment of Motherwell and Aberdeen stations and the transformation of Queen Street station in Glasgow, served by Abellio’s £475million investment in new and upgraded trains.

Across Scotland, the punctuality and reliability of Scotland’s Railway has continued to improve, meaning that ScotRail’s Moving Annual Average (MAA) punctuality measure has improved to 91.9%. As a result, from the most recent independent passenger survey, nine out of ten customers are satisfied with ScotRail making them among the most satisfied of any across Britain, with the national average for customer satisfaction at 82%.

The loss of passenger revenue from March 2020 has been compensated by additional income from Transport Scotland (TS) under EMA contract variations, which is reflected in the table below. The ScotRail operation was slightly profitable under pre-corona circumstances. The corona crisis however triggered impairments on assets resulting in a non-recurring loss in 2020. The cash risk for the shareholder is limited to undrawn PCS and other guarantees of € 51 million. ScotRail is in positive dialogue with TS about a further extension of the EMA after 31 March 2021.

• * EBIT includes a non-recurring loss of € 107 million (2019: nil)