Taxpayers have funded nearly £3 million in compensation payouts to passengers on the Caledonian Sleeper service since it was brought into public ownership by the Scottish Government, new figures reveal.
A Costly Legacy of Delays
Since the service was nationalised in June 2023, a total of £2.73 million has been paid to travellers under the Delay Repay scheme. This equates to an average of more than £22,000 per week in compensation for journeys that arrived at their destination over 30 minutes late.
The data, obtained by the Scottish Conservatives via freedom of information requests, shows the breakdown of claims. Payouts included £492,846 for delays of 30 minutes to an hour, £1,937,022 for hold-ups exceeding one hour, and a further £296,482 for other manual claims.
Political Row Over Public Ownership
The substantial compensation bill has ignited a fierce political debate over the Scottish National Party's management of Scotland's railways. The Caledonian Sleeper, which connects London with stations across Scotland, was formally taken over by ministers just one year after ScotRail returned to public hands.
Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Sue Webber launched a stinging critique, stating: "The SNP promised that nationalising our sleeper service was the best option. But these figures show that passengers are being let down by a service that’s too often late and taxpayers are picking up the tab."
She accused the government of "making a mess" of running the service, mirroring earlier criticisms of the ScotRail nationalisation. Webber added that the multi-million pound compensation cost was unaffordable amidst wider spending cuts and argued that such incompetence was driving passengers back to using cars.
Government Defends Record Amid High Demand
In response, a spokesman for Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop defended the service's performance. They argued that opposition MSPs lacked context, noting that trains "may need on occasion to be cancelled" for safety reasons and that the operator works hard to get passengers home.
The spokesman provided crucial context, revealing that the compensation cases represent approximately 3.4% of almost 480,000 journeys undertaken since nationalisation. They shifted blame for a significant portion of the delays, stating: "...blame for more than half of all delay compensation claims rests elsewhere."
Highlighting positive metrics, the spokesperson pointed to strong booking levels and great passenger satisfaction results, insisting the focus was on ensuring the publicly owned Caledonian Sleeper is a success. The service had previously been operated by Serco under a franchise agreement running from 2015 to 2030.
The debate underscores the ongoing challenges of running complex rail services under public ownership, with passengers' right to compensation for poor performance creating a direct financial consequence for the state.
