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Abellio ScotRail, operating services under the name ScotRail, was the national
train operating company In the railway system of Great Britain, a train operating company (TOC) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways ...
of Scotland. A subsidiary of the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
-based transport conglomerate
Abellio Abellio (also Abelio and Abelionni) was a god worshiped in the Garonne Valley in Gallia Aquitania (now southwest France), known primarily by a number of inscriptions which were discovered in Comminges, in the Pyrenees. He may have been a god ...
, it operated the ScotRail franchise between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022. In October 2014, Abellio was selected by
Transport Scotland Transport Scotland () is the national transport agency of Scotland. It was established by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, and began operating on 1 January 2006 as an executive agency of the Scottish Government. Transport Scotland, an execut ...
to take over the franchise from the incumbent operator
First ScotRail First ScotRail was a train operating company in Scotland owned by FirstGroup. It operated the ScotRail franchise between October 2004 and March 2015. On 17 October 2004, First ScotRail took over operations from the incumbent franchisee, ScotRai ...
. On 1 April 2015, Abellio ScotRail commenced operations. On 6 September 2015, it ran the first services on the newly-opened Borders Railway. In conjunction with the wider Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme, Abellio ScotRail introduced the Class 385 electric trains, which were faster and had more capacity than preceding diesel traction on the route; however, short-term difficulties with the new fleet led to disruption and delays. The operator was also unable to introduce its new Intercity timetable due to the late than planned delivery of refurbished Inter7City trains. Following the completion of the Inverness - Aberdeen Improvement Plan, a new hourly service was launched by Abellio ScotRail between these two cities. During January 2017, the Scottish government and Abellio ScotRail's management publicly disagreed over the funding of a government-directed scheme; Phil Verster, the managing director of Abellio ScotRail and the ScotRail alliance, resigned shortly thereafter. On multiple occasions through the franchise period, the
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (commonly known as the RMT) is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is George Welch and its current General Secretary is Eddie Dempsey. The RMT ...
(RMT) organised
industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increas ...
, including strikes, that negatively impacted Abellio ScotRail's operations, to the point where Sunday operations were mostly abandoned over a seven month period in 2021. On 20 January 2017, the managing director of Abellio ScotRail and the ScotRail alliance parted ways with the company. During December 2019, it was announced by the Scottish government that Abellio ScotRail's franchise would end in 2022 due to alleged poor performance. The franchise ended on 31 March 2022 and was replaced by
ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail (), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise as an operator of las ...
, an
operator of last resort An operator of last resort is a business in the United Kingdom that operates a Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain, railway franchise on behalf of the government when a train operating company (TOC) is no longer able to do so, and it is n ...
(OLR) owned by the Scottish Government.


History

In November 2013,
Transport Scotland Transport Scotland () is the national transport agency of Scotland. It was established by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, and began operating on 1 January 2006 as an executive agency of the Scottish Government. Transport Scotland, an execut ...
announced that
Abellio Abellio (also Abelio and Abelionni) was a god worshiped in the Garonne Valley in Gallia Aquitania (now southwest France), known primarily by a number of inscriptions which were discovered in Comminges, in the Pyrenees. He may have been a god ...
,
Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...
,
FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.MTR Corporation MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hong K ...
and
National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...
had been shortlisted to bid for the new ScotRail franchise. In October 2014, the franchise was awarded to Abellio. The franchise was set to operate for a seven year period, although provisions were included for a three-year extension contingent on the operator fulfilling various performance criteria. On 1 April 2015, Abellio began operating the ScotRail franchise. On 6 September 2015, Abellio ScotRail opened the Borders Railway, a non-electrified largely single-track line roughly following the alignment of the northern part of the long-closed
Waverley Route The Waverley Route was a railway line that ran south from Edinburgh, through Midlothian and the Scottish Borders, to Carlisle. The line was built by the North British Railway; the stretch from Edinburgh to Hawick opened in 1849 and the remaind ...
. During its first month of operations, 125,971 passengers travelled on the Borders Railway, far in excess of projections. As a result of overcrowding, Abellio ScotRail quickly started running trains with up to six carriages at peak hours and leased additional parking space near Tweedbank station. In June 2016, the
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (commonly known as the RMT) is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is George Welch and its current General Secretary is Eddie Dempsey. The RMT ...
(RMT) announced that train conductors would be going on strike several times during the summer months in protest at the running of greater numbers of driver-only operated trains. During June and July 2016, a total of six 24-hour and three 48-hour strikes were conducted by staff working for Abellio ScotRail. An agreement was reached in September 2016 that brought an end to the dispute and therefore service disruption. It was agreed that the new Class 385 trains would have the doors controlled by both the driver and the conductors, the driver opening the doors while the conductors closing them. During January 2017, the Scottish government and Abellio ScotRail's management clashed over a government-directed scheme to compensate rail passengers for disruptions on the rail network with free tickets; funding for the scheme had not been agreed before the government publicly spoke on the effort leading to tense talks between management and MSPs. That same month, Phil Verster, the managing director of Abellio ScotRail and the ScotRail alliance, abruptly stepped down from his role shortly following the compensation scheme dispute being publicised. Several days later, Alex Hynes was named as the company's new managing director. In April 2018, Abellio ScotRail announced that it would be implementing all 20 recommendations produced by an independent review of the company's operations, headed by the former
TransPennine Express TransPennine Trains Limited, trading as TransPennine Express (TPE), is a British train operating company that has operated passenger services in the TransPennine Express franchise area since May 2023. It runs regional and inter-city rail ser ...
managing director Nick Donovan. These recommendations included reviews of managerial and operational planning arrangements, root cause analysis of infrastructure failures, greater use of remote monitoring, clarifying responsibilities for key systems such as
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
radios, better performance modelling, ring-fencing of planning resources, elimination of unnecessary key performance indicators, and a new focus on system performance improvements at the control room level. A stated intent of these recommendations was to bolster punctuality amongst other performance criteria. During March 2021, it was announced that the RMT union would ballot conductors for an indefinite overtime ban following Abellio ScotRail's refusal to pay its conductors overtime payments for working on rest days; this action led to no services being run on many routes. One month later, ticket examiners were balloted for the same dispute, the majority of trains operated by ScotRail did not run on Sundays as a result. During October 2021, a deal between the union and the operator was reached, bringing an end to the dispute and restoring Sunday services thereafter. Abellio ScotRail reportedly failed to meet the performance criteria necessary to gain a three-year extension to its franchise period; according, it was announced during March 2021 that the franchise would be terminated on 31 March 2022. In Abellio's place, the state-owned
operator of last resort An operator of last resort is a business in the United Kingdom that operates a Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain, railway franchise on behalf of the government when a train operating company (TOC) is no longer able to do so, and it is n ...
ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail (), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise as an operator of las ...
took over operations.


Operations


Services

Abellio ScotRail took over all of the services operated by
First ScotRail First ScotRail was a train operating company in Scotland owned by FirstGroup. It operated the ScotRail franchise between October 2004 and March 2015. On 17 October 2004, First ScotRail took over operations from the incumbent franchisee, ScotRai ...
on 1 April 2015, except for the ''
Caledonian Sleeper ''Caledonian Sleeper'' is the collective name for overnight Sleeping car, sleeper train services between London and Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is one of only two currently operating sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom ...
'' services, which were transferred to a separate franchise operated by
Serco Serco Group plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational military, defence, Healthcare, health, Space industry, space, private prison, justice, Human migration, migration, customer service, customer services, and transport company ...
. The franchise agreement required the introduction of 'Great Scottish Scenic Railway' trains on the
West Highland The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlan ...
, Far North, Kyle, Borders Railway and Glasgow South Western lines. Steam special services were also promoted by Abellio ScotRail. The planned implementation of Abellio ScotRail's new Intercity timetable had to be postponed due to the delayed delivery of ScotRail's refurbished Inter7City trains, along with the introduction of the Edinburgh - Arbroath and Montrose - Inverurie commuter services. As a result, the stopping pattern of Glasgow/Edinburgh to Aberdeen services was irregular, making calls at many stations at which there is now a frequent stopping service. The improved Glasgow/Edinburgh to Inverness timetable will be introduced along with the Glasgow/Edinburgh to Aberdeen timetable from December 2020. Following the completion of the Inverness - Aberdeen Improvement Plan, an hourly service was operated by the company between the two cities; furthermore, half hourly services were provided between Elgin and Inverness/Inverurie and Aberdeen that served the two recently opened stations at Dalcross and Kintore. A selection of ''Inter7City'' services also commenced operation between Inverness and the Central Belt via Aberdeen, which only called at a couple of stations between Inverness and Aberdeen.


Stations

Abellio ScotRail operated 352 stations in Scotland. Not included were Prestwick International Airport station, owned and operated by the airport, as well as both Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central, which are managed by
Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...
. Abellio ScotRail operated
Lockerbie Lockerbie (, ) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, located in south-western Scotland. The 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town had an estimated population of in . The town came to international attention in December 1988 when ...
even though none of its services called there. During June 2015, it also took over management of
Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...
, which had been previously operated by
Virgin Trains East Coast Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) (legal name East Coast Main Line Company Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the No ...
.


Depots

Abellio ScotRail's fleet was maintained at Edinburgh Haymarket, Glasgow Eastfield, Glasgow Shields Road, Corkerhill Glasgow, Yoker, Ayr Townhead, Bathgate and
Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
as well as a newly built EMU stabling depot at Millerhill in Midlothian and a rebuilt depot at Cadder Yard.


Rolling stock

Abellio ScotRail operated a diverse fleet of DMUs, EMUs and loco-hauled stock. From 10 December 2017, Class 380 EMUs were introduced onto services between Glasgow and Edinburgh via Falkirk High (also serving Croy, Polmont, Linlithgow and Haymarket). This was the first step in creating an entirely electric service between the two cities which was expected to start in October 2018 with Class 385 EMUs, which should have entered service in December 2017, but were subsequently delayed due to a windscreen fault. Early on in the franchise, Abellio ScotRail publicly stated its intention to introduce a brand new fleet of 46 three-car and 24 four-car Class 385 electric trains from December 2017, which would operate services on the lines that were being electrified as part of the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme. However, various issues were encountered, including with the rail infrastructure itself but also the trains (mainly related to software and windscreen issues), as well as staff training, that delayed the Class 385s entry to service. To cover for the shortfall in rolling stock, Abellio ScotRail hired 10 Class 365 units from Great Northern. These interim trains entered service in June 2018. From October 2018, Abellio ScotRail introduced former
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
HSTs on services between
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
,
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
,
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
and
Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
, branded as "Inter7City" in reference to Scotland's seven main cities. The Mark 3 coaches were all outfitted with refurbished interiors, one of the most substantial changes was the replacement of slam doors with powered doors. There were a total of 26 sets: 17 five-car and 9 four-car trains. As with the Class 385s, there were delays in getting the refurbished trains into service. As a result, some HST sets were pressed into service without refurbishment to allow for others to have refurbishment completed. By May 2020, ScotRail was operating an entirely refurbished HST fleet. This new rolling stock resulted in ten Class 156, eight Class 158 and 21 Class 170 sets returning to their leasing companies when their leases expired in 2018.
Transport Scotland Transport Scotland () is the national transport agency of Scotland. It was established by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, and began operating on 1 January 2006 as an executive agency of the Scottish Government. Transport Scotland, an execut ...
negotiated to retain an extra 13 Class 170s to support services through Fife to Aberdeen, the Fife Circle Line (replacing the Class 68/Mark 2 sets), and the Borders railway.
Arriva Rail North Arriva Rail North Limited, branded as Northern by Arriva, was a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operator Northern Rail. A subsidiary ...
received five of the 156s, all the 158s and 16 of the Class 170s. Five Class 170s (170416-170420) moved to
East Midlands Railway East Midlands Railway (EMR; legally Transport UK East Midlands Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Transport UK Group, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. Originally owned by Abellio (transport compan ...
in 2020.


Fleet at end of franchise


Past fleet

This new rolling stock resulted in ten Class 156, eight Class 158 and 21 Class 170 sets returning to their leasing companies when their leases expired in 2018.
Transport Scotland Transport Scotland () is the national transport agency of Scotland. It was established by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, and began operating on 1 January 2006 as an executive agency of the Scottish Government. Transport Scotland, an execut ...
negotiated to retain an extra 13 Class 170s to support services through Fife to Aberdeen, the Fife Circle Line, and the Borders railway.
Arriva Rail North Arriva Rail North Limited, branded as Northern by Arriva, was a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operator Northern Rail. A subsidiary ...
received five of the Class 156s, all 8 of the Class 158s and 16 of the Class 170s. Five Class 170s (170416-170420) were transferred to
East Midlands Railway East Midlands Railway (EMR; legally Transport UK East Midlands Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Transport UK Group, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. Originally owned by Abellio (transport compan ...
in 2020. Former train types operated by ScotRail include:


See also

*
ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail (), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise as an operator of las ...
, the train operating company operating the ScotRail franchise since 1 April 2022 * ScotRail (brand)


References


Notes


Citations


External links

* {{Abellio Nederlandse Spoorwegen Railway companies established in 2015 Railway companies disestablished in 2022 Railway companies of Scotland Train operating companies in the United Kingdom 2015 establishments in Scotland 2022 disestablishments in Scotland