ScotRail Operations Director DAVID SIMPSON explains to PHILIP SHERRATT how the operator has taken advantage of the Covid crisis to lock in performance benefits
It is a truism that Scotland is, in many ways, a different country. This is certainly true of its management of the Covid crisis, with restrictions eased at a different pace to elsewhere in the UK.
So too with its adjustment of timetables since March. Like operators south of the border ScotRail was quick to reduce services at the onset of the pandemic, but the restoration of services featured differing staging points. This culminated on 3 August with the introduction of what ScotRail has described as its ‘new normal’ timetable. Not only does this reintroduce as close to a normal service as possible, but it also draws on hard work and careful analysis to eliminate elements of the timetable which were negatively impacting performance.
