Scottish Government takes control of ScotRail franchise
RAIL services in Scotland are due to come under the control of the Scottish Government on April 1. This has come about because the option to extend the current Abellio franchise for a further three years after the initial seven-year period from 2015 has not been taken up.
To maintain services during the Covid pandemic, an Emergency Measures Agreement (EMA) was instituted in April 2020, in which Abellio was paid a management fee to operate services specified by Transport Scotland.
The EMA arrangement has not been continued and the Scottish Government has used powers to establish a publicly owned Operator of Last Resort (OLR) – as has been the case in England for LNER, Northern, and South Eastern, although the circumstances have been different in each case. Transport for Wales has also followed this approach.
OLR companies are intended as an interim arrangement until a new franchise/concession competition is held or a direct award is
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