ScotRail has just ordered new rolling stock for the railway network, but while it is welcome it may lead to capacity issues over the next decade, argues Herald columnist Alan Simpson

Back in the days when face masks were still mandatory, then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stood on a cold platform at Glasgow Queen Street to hail the nationalisation of ScotRail.

It was April the 1st 2022, a fairly apt day, and she said bringing ScotRail into public ownership was a “historic and momentous occasion”.

She added: “Everyone involved has worked extremely hard to deliver the smooth transition of ScotRail into public control and ownership.

“This new beginning creates a real opportunity to deliver a railway which is for the nation, and fully focused on being run for the benefit of its users - customers, staff and stakeholders, as opposed to shareholders.”

Nobody in Scotland disagreed with her on that, least of all the regular hard-pressed passengers who had endured years of poor service under Abellio.

Dutch firm Abellio had been running the franchise since 2015, but had its contract ended early amid criticism over cancellations and performance levels.

The arrangement was made under powers which allow the Scottish government to take over the rail franchise without a bidding process.

It was temporarily nationalised in March 2020 to help the service cope with the impact of coronavirus.

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