Gavin Newlands, the SNP transport spokesman, said all cross-border rail services should be brought back into public ownership and control.
An SNP MP had demanded the west coast mainline from London to Glasgow should be brought back under public control.
Passengers have endured months of misery on the key cross-border route due to repeated service cancellations and delays.
Operators Avanti – a private firm 70 per cent owned by First Group – has received thousands of complaints after it slashed timetables and blamed staff shortages.
Cross-border rail franchises are awarded by the UK Government but there are growing demands to nationalise the network.
The east coast mainline between Edinburgh and London is run by the publicly-owned LNER.
Gavin Newlands, the SNP transport spokesman at Westminster, yesterday branded Avanti “shambolic”.
He told MPs: “Cross-border rail services run by Avanti and TransPennine have been shambolic.”
He asked Tory minister Huw Merriman if it was “time to follow Scotland’s lead in bringing rail operators under public control”.
ScotRail – which provides the vast majority of passenger services north of the Border – was brought under Holyrood control last year.
Merriman responded: “Perhaps another way of looking at it is to say that on the east coast there is actually competition with open access, whereas there isn’t on the west coast.
“So, he might actually feel that we’re not doing enough in terms of private enterprise and competition. I’m rather keen that we look at open access and see if we can do to the west what’s been done on the east.”
“But he’s absolutely right the performance has not been good enough,” he added.
Speaking to the Record after the debate, Newlands said: “At the same time as Avanti and TransPennine are both operating a disastrous service linking Scotland with England – a hugely important area of connectivity – publicly owned LNER is operating normal service outside of strike days.
“I don’t believe the difference in ownership is a co-incidence, and we have also seen publicly owned ScotRail settle disputes with rail unions over recent months while private rail operators seem paralysed.
“I think LNER should be commended for keeping vital cross-border rail links open when others have presided over an utter shambles.
“They have shown there is no reason why all cross-border rail services should be brought back into public ownership and control, where they belong.”
Source: Daily Record
