The Scottish Government has invited opposition politicians and trade unions to take part in a “national conversation” about the future of Scotland’s rail services as they return to public ownership.
Transport minister Jenny Gilruth, confirmed on Wednesday that ScotRail would be taken over by the public sector from April 1, admitting “much work still needs to be done”.
In a statement at Holyrood, the minister invited opposition parties to meet with her and share their ideas for the service, which will be stripped from Dutch firm Abellio.
“Today I want to kick-start a national conversation about what our new beginning for ScotRail should look like – an affordable, sustainable, customer focused rail passenger service in Scotland in a post-pandemic world,” she said.
Today I want to kick-start a national conversation about what our new beginning for ScotRail should look like
“I told Parliament last week I would listen. To that end, and at the core of this statement to Parliament today, is an invitation to all members who have a genuine interest in the future of ScotRail, to get involved and work with me to shape the change that needs to happen.
“I’m happy to meet with representatives from every party, and my private office has already extended an invitation to opposition spokespeople.
“Change will happen on April 1 – so my invitation to all members today is let’s have a conversation about that change and let’s work together to influence how that happens. After all, we all want a railway that delivers for our constituents.”
Opposition MSPs were receptive to the idea, with Tory transport spokesman, Graham Simpson, saying: “It sounds like she wants us to help her create that vision, and in the spirit in which she delivered her statement I am more than happy to help her with that and join her in genuine cross-party talks.
“But if I could gently suggest that needs to be more than the occasional half an hour, these need to be regular discussions if we’re going to get this right.”
Labour transport spokesman, Neil Bibby, said: “I welcome the minister saying she is in listening mode, but can I say to the minister, the test will be what the minister does not just what the minister says.”
When asked about ruling out compulsory redundancies, Ms Gilruth said she had a Thursday meeting planned with union officials, but added: “I can’t imagine that it would be something that this Government would seek to take forward.”
She added: “I hope that gives him some reassurance but I do want to speak to the unions about this, there are a number of other issues that we will have to unpack in the course of that meeting.”
When pushed by Mr Bibby, the minister stressed there were no current plans to cut any jobs once the service is nationalised.
