THE future of ScotRail after March next year may be revealed today, when a statement is expected in the Scottish Parliament. A union has called for full nationalisation.

The government has said it will take advantage of a ‘break point’ in March 2022 in its present contract with Abellio, which has come under fire over poor performance. ScotRail attributed many of its problems in 2018 to staff shortages, which were made worse by the fact that some staff had to be withdrawn from normal shifts so that they could be trained to work new rolling stock. But the break point was activated at the end of 2019.

The RMT said last night that ‘the only plausible option’ is for the Scottish Government to nationalise the system.

The union’s general secretary Mick Cash said: ‘As the Welsh Government has already shown, the delayed publication of the UK Government’s Williams Review does not prevent the Scottish Government using its existing powers to take its rail passenger services into public ownership.’

Cabinet secretary Michael Matheson has said ministers are ‘looking at several different options’.