THE Scottish executive will enforce the conditions of the ScotRail franchise and may take over responsibility for the tracks in a radical shake-up of the railways that could lead to single control of the Scottish network for the first time since the privatisation of British Rail.
The government’s rail review, which is due to be published early next month, is believed to include devolution of the rail regions to the Scottish and Welsh executives, passenger transport executives (PTEs) in England and the mayor of London.
Nicol Stephen, Scotland’s transport minister, also confirmed last week’s report in The Sunday Times that the new Transport Scotland agency, outlined in his new white paper, would seize control of rail from Strathclyde PTE, Scotland’s only PTE, which is a co-signatory to the ScotRail franchise.
The double move to bring both track and trains under Edinburgh control leaves the way open for a pilot project of so-called vertical integration, with a single management for both train and track operation, a link that was broken by BR privatisation a decade ago.
However, transport industry sources in London say that Network Rail, which will take a greater role in the running of the national network as a result of the review, will be unwilling to cede too much control to the Scottish executive.
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Officials are also extremely unwilling to break any of the existing franchise agreements with train companies, and none of the large inter-city franchises — which run long-distance trains from Glasgow and Edinburgh to London — are likely to be involved.
In Edinburgh, Stephen also pledged to publish details of the ScotRail franchise contract in a break from the normal practice of the Strategic Rail Authority.
Stephen also said ministers would ensure that FirstGroup, which became preferred bidder earlier this month, would be forced to meet conditions set by the Competition Commission to ensure it did not abuse its near-monopoly position.
The minister said he wanted the ScotRail franchise to be as open as possible without breaking commercial confidentiality.
“There will be pressure in Scotland for details of the contract to be made public,” he said.
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“Contract details will have to come into the public domain sooner rather than later.”
The publication of the Reliance prisons contract and the new freedom of information requirements made publication of the £1.75 billion ScotRail contract a necessity.
Stephen added that he expected to see the Competition Commission agree binding conditions with FirstGroup in the next few weeks, but ministers would take responsibility for ensuring that there was no market abuse.
If there were complaints or problems with the service — which will account for 80% of Scottish rail and bus routes — the Scottish executive wouldn’t hesitate. “If there were failures of any sort, then there is a responsibility on Scots ministers to act,” he said.
He pointed out that the executive had advanced a significant number of projects, including trams in Edinburgh, direct international air links, and airport rail links. “I’m ambitious for transport in Scotland,” he said.
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The projects would once have been seen as “pie in the sky”, but are being delivered. Further ahead, he did not rule out a high-speed link between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Additional reporting: Dominic O’Connell