Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19114 on 22 June 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Policy Statement sets out Scotland’s ambition to become a leading hydrogen nation, with an expectation that both battery electric and hydrogen systems assist in decarbonising transport in Scotland.

£3.5m Scottish Government funding was provided to convert a Class 314 train to a hydrogen fuel cell train in collaboration with St Andrews University and Scottish Enterprise which was displayed during COP26 in 2021, with trials on the track taking place during 2022. This also developed a local supply chain knowledge to support longer term zero emission fleets introduction.

Transport Scotland has also commissioned a study which is in the early stages of delivery, on multimodal refuelling stations.

The economic impact of the pilot removal of peak fares from the rail system will depend primarily on how rail and other demand responds to the change. As Scotland is leading the UK with such a measure, it is necessary to pilot the change in order to determine if a permanent change would represent value for money.

Analysis undertaken before the scheme was announced, based on historical data, suggested that there are sufficient grounds to explore the impacts through a pilot which will also allow operational impacts to be assessed.

The details requested of ScotRail’s fleet of trains are commercially sensitive, however information concerning the fleets can be requested via:-

Information Requests | ScotRail

The member may wish to note that the fleet end dates are contained within the ScotRail Grant Agreement (page 19) available via:-

ScotRail+Grant+Agreement+-+24+June+2022_Published.pdf (squarespace.com)

As part of the transition to a public ownership of ScotRail, there was a continuation of four existing Abellio contracts. This was necessary to ensure consistency of service for passengers and facilitate a smooth transition. These four Abellio contracts are for 1) Shared Services Centre, 2) Bus Service link between Central, Queen Street and Buchanan Street, 3) Rail Replacement and 4) the Management of Station Tenancy and Advertising Management.

One of these contracts is now operating in-house within ScotRail with the remaining three being at various stages of procurement for replacement contracts.

The RAIB’s accident investigation report following the Carmont rail accident in 2020 concluded that the HSTs are not unsafe, a position which has also been confirmed by the independent safety regulator, the Office of Rail and Road. The Carmont accident was caused by a fault on the infrastructure.

Any considerations for HST replacement including timescales must take account of the conclusions of the Carmont Steering Group, and must be informed by the available budgets and the business case for change. The procurement of new rolling stock forms an integral part of Transport Scotland’s Decarbonisation Action Plan.

Transport Scotland engages with all the train rolling stock companies on a regular basis to discuss the full range of fleet related topics including hydrogen powered trains.

ScotRail fleet reliability and cleanliness are operational matters for which ScotRail Trains Ltd is responsible. Details of how ScotRail is monitored for its Public Performance Measure (punctuality and reliability) and also how its stations and trains are monitored via Transport Scotland’s Service Quality Incentive Regime (SQUIRE) can be found by accessing the following link:-

Performance & Reliability | Public Performance Monitoring | ScotRail

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18442 on 13 June 2023 . All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers