PaxVobiscum
Established Member
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-18123911
Is it possible to run trains to within one minute of advertised times on the current rail infrastructure? Would it make that much of a difference to most of us anyway?
MSPs call for crackdown on late Scottish trains
MSPs have called for a crackdown on late-running trains by bringing in tougher rules.
Services are currently allowed to arrive up to 10 minutes after stated times, before they are classed as late.
But this threshold should be cut to one minute, the Scottish Parliament's infrastructure committee has said.
The cross-party committee, which has been looking into the state of rail services, said the current rules were causing a headache for passengers.
Currently, local trains are described as on-time if they arrive at their destination within a five-minute threshold, increasing to 10 minutes for long-distance services.
In its report, the Holyrood committee said train operating companies already planned for "right-time scheduling", but added: "The committee considers these thresholds do not adequately reflect the difficulties and inconvenience caused to passengers who are on trains that arrive late but still within the relevant threshold.
"The committee, therefore, recommends the thresholds should be reduced, on a phased basis if necessary, so that a train will be considered on-time only if it arrives within a minute of its timetabled target."
The report came ahead of the expiry of the £1.5bn contract to run Scottish rail services, in mid-2014.
Is it possible to run trains to within one minute of advertised times on the current rail infrastructure? Would it make that much of a difference to most of us anyway?