The Fines Agreement with Abellio (Scotrail): FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/18/01916
Date received: 16 July 2018
Date responded: 20 July 2018

Information requested

A copy of the fines agreement between the Scottish government and Abellio, the holder of the ScotRail franchise.

I am looking specifically for fines for lateness, cancellations, skipped stations, starting journeys at stations other than the station mentioned in the timetable, such as starting a train at Dalmuir instead of Helensburgh.

Response

The link for the franchise agreement between the Scottish Government and Abellio, can be found at this weblink:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/2302/abellio-scotrail-redacted-franchise-agreement-web-version-revised-november-2016.pdf

Specifically, Schedule 7.3 (p417 of the document) documents the standards for service quality which the Franchisee is expected to meet, and the payments which will be made by the Franchisee when the set standards are not met (specifically, section 10 of this schedule, "Service Quality Payments", from p427 onwards).

However, and for the avoidance of doubt, this performance regime does not apply to issues of any "… fines for lateness, cancellations, skipped stations, [or] starting journeys at stations other than the station mentioned in the timetable". In these respects, the franchise is held to a different performance regime, which is documented in Schedule 7.1 of the franchise (same link as above), commencing at p389. This is not a financial regime, instead setting benchmarks for overall performance which the franchise is expected to meet.

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