First ScotRail

First ScotRail was a train operating company in Scotland owned by FirstGroup. It operated the ScotRail franchise between October 2004 and March 2015.
On 17 October 2004, First ScotRail took over operations from the incumbent franchisee, National Express. First ScotRail operated most commuter and long-distance services within Scotland, and some services to northern England, as well as the Caledonian Sleeper to London. Of FirstGroup's four train operating companies, ScotRail was the second largest after First Great Western at the time of the termination of its franchise.
During April 2008, Transport Scotland granted a three-year franchise extension to First ScotRail. In May 2009, First ScotRail announced a crackdown on fare-dodging due to abuse of the Flexipass ticket system. One month later, it was alleged that ScotRail's passenger figures were substantially inflated and that 7.2 million less passenger journeys had been actually made; the matter became politically charged but did not impact the extension decision. In June 2012, the Scottish Government announced that the Caledonian Sleeper services would be split off from the ScotRail franchise. Following its unsuccessful bid to retain the franchise in 2014, First ScotRail transferred operations to Abellio ScotRail on 1 April 2015.

History

Between March 1997 and October 2004, the public transport conglomerate National Express operated the ScotRail franchise under the ScotRail brand. During July 2003, the Scottish Executive and the Strategic Rail Authority announced Arriva, FirstGroup and National Express had been shortlisted to bid for the new franchise. In June 2004, the franchise was awarded to FirstGroup; the services formerly operated by ScotRail were transferred to First ScotRail on 17 October 2004.
On 1 January 2006, Transport Scotland was established to carry out the Scottish Executive's transport responsibilities including its then newly devolved powers over rail franchising. During April 2008, Transport Scotland granted a three-year franchise extension to First ScotRail, postponing its end-date to November 2014.
In May 2009, First ScotRail announced a crackdown on fare-dodging shortly after discovering that one of its most popular saver tickets could be subject to widespread abuse; 150 travellers were caught misusing Flexipass tickets within a single week alone. First ScotRail's approach to dealing with fare-dodgers remained a point of controversy at times.
During June 2009, a report by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport alleged that passenger figures generated by ScotRail had contained 7.2 million more passenger journeys than had been actually made; in response, Holyrood's audit committee called in Auditor General Robert Black to review the extent of the miscalculation. First ScotRail stated that the "long-standing" error was being corrected, while Transport Scotland contended that the overestimate did not impact its decision to extend the ScotRail franchise.
During October 2011, First ScotRail and the British railway infrastructure operator Network Rail announced the enactment of a series of new measures to handle service disruption in the event of severe winter conditions. In addition to improved access to travel information at stations and aboard trains, a new design of warmed plastic tunnels along with the first "power shower" system in the UK were rolled out to help de-ice trains, while it was stated that priority would be given to keeping the most highly-trafficked routes operational. At times of severe weather, ScotRail services had been temporarily suspended on grounds of safety; in such situations, wherever possible, active trains were directed to stop in the nearest convenient station and alternative transportation was provided until services could be resumed.
In June 2012, the Scottish Government announced that when the ScotRail franchise would be re-tendered in 2014, the Caledonian Sleeper services would be split off and transferred to a standalone franchise. In May 2014, it was announced that the new Caledonian Sleeper franchise had been awarded to Serco.
In addition to FirstGroup, multiple other transport companies entered bids to operate the ScotRail franchise, including Abellio, Arriva, MTR, and National Express. During early October 2014, it was announced that Abellio's bid had been selected and thus First ScotRail would be discontinued from April 2015.
Accordingly, the franchise was transferred to Abellio ScotRail at midnight on 1 April 2015. Several hours beforehand, the Caledonian Sleeper services had been separately transferred to Serco.

Services

Main lines

Express trains operated between Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Dundee and Aberdeen. The Highland Main Line links Inverness to the south. Some stretches of main line, such as the Highland Main Line, are single track, and express trains must call at intermediate stations to permit trains coming in the opposite direction to pass.
The main lines of Scotland are:

Ayrshire Coast Line
Dundee–Aberdeen line
Edinburgh–Dundee line
Fife Circle Line
Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line
Glasgow–Edinburgh via Falkirk line
Glasgow–Dundee line
Glasgow South Western Line
Highland Main Line
Glasgow

The densest part of the network was the suburban network around Glasgow, with 183 stations, the second-largest suburban rail network in the UK, after London. Much of it is electrified. Glasgow’s main terminal stations are Central and Queen Street stations. ScotRail operated trains in this area under the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport brand. However, the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport no longer has any input into specifying rail services in the Glasgow area. DMUs and EMUs that were liveried in the carmine and cream livery were stripped of the Strathclyde logos. Lines in and around Glasgow were:

Argyle Line
Ayrshire Coast Line
Cathcart Circle Lines
Croy Line
Cumbernauld Line
Inverclyde Line
Maryhill Line
Motherwell–Cumbernauld line
North Clyde Line
Paisley Canal line
Shotts Line
Glasgow South Western Line
Whifflet Line

The North Clyde Line is now linked to the Edinburgh-Bathgate Line with the completion of the Airdrie–Bathgate rail link, creating a new direct link between Glasgow and Edinburgh. There is also a proposal to create a new rail link across the city with the Crossrail Glasgow project.

Edinburgh

’s suburban network is less dense than Glasgow’s. Edinburgh’s main station is Waverley. The main railway line through the city centre runs in a cutting immediately below Edinburgh Castle. A secondary station is at in the west of the city. Railway lines running north from Edinburgh to Fife and the Highlands cross the Firth of Forth via the Forth Bridge. Lines in and around Edinburgh were:

Edinburgh–Bathgate line
Edinburgh Crossrail
Edinburgh–Dunblane line
North Berwick Line
Shotts Line
Edinburgh–Dundee line

The Edinburgh rail network is being expanded with the construction of the Waverley Line to the Borders, and the Edinburgh–Bathgate Line has been extended by the Airdrie–Bathgate rail link. A project to open a rail link to Edinburgh Airport was cancelled in September 2007 by the Scottish Government in favour of construction of a station at nearby Gogar which will connect with the Edinburgh tram network to take passengers to the terminal. A proposal to re-open the Edinburgh suburban railway line has been made by campaigning groups.

Rural lines

Rural lines include the scenic West Highland Line, Kyle of Lochalsh line and Far North Line. These lines carried more passengers, mostly tourists, during the summer months, but provided a valuable link and social service during the winter months.
Many rural lines are single track. Trains terminating at the coastal towns of Oban and Mallaig connected with the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry services to Skye, Colonsay, Lismore, Islay and the Outer Hebrides and Inner Hebrides.
The rural lines were:

Aberdeen–Inverness line
Far North Line
Kyle of Lochalsh line
West Highland Line
InterCity & Sleeper services

First ScotRail operated some services that ventured south of the border: principally the Caledonian Sleeper to London Euston along the West Coast Main Line, and a three times daily cross-country service between Newcastle upon Tyne and Glasgow Central via Carlisle and Kilmarnock.

Performance

Performance figures for National Express’s last quarter as franchise holder, July to September 2004, were:

Period	% trains arriving within 5 mins of scheduled time	Change
	82.8%
	84.2%

Performance figures for FirstGroup’s first quarter as franchise holder, October to December 2004, were:

Period	% trains arriving within 5 mins of scheduled time	Change
	79.8%
	83.7%

FirstGroup started operating the franchise on 17 October 2004.
The performance figures released by the Office for Rail Regulation are as follows:

Period	% trains arriving within 5 mins of scheduled time	Change over same quarter the previous year	% trains arriving within 5 mins of scheduled time Moving Annual Average	Change over previous year as a whole
	91.4%		89.0%
	93.0%		89.6%
	87.3%		90.1%
	90.5%		90.6%
	93.6%		91.1%
	92.8%		91.0%
	86.5%		90.9%
	89.6%	>	90.6%
	93.0%		90.5%
	93.5%		90.7%
	86.7%		90.7%
	89.5%		90.7%
	94.5%		91.4%
	78.4%		92.9%
	89.1%		90.1%

Note:

The percentage change figures are not the actual increases in % but the percentage increase in the % value.
These values are very similar to the sector performance level.