SCOTRAIL has paid out more than £2,000 a day on average to passengers amid complaints of cancellations and delays.
The train operator gave travellers a total of £587,527 between April and December 2016.
Data obtained by Scottish Conservatives under Freedom of Information found the majority of the payments – £340,000 – were for delayed trains.
A further £178,000 was paid out in full or partial refunds to passengers who feel the agreed level of service was not reached while £52,000 was given as a “gesture of goodwill”.
More than £10,000 was handed out in compensation over the nine months and £6,000 in refunds.
ScotRail handed money to passengers in 40,002 cases in the period.
December was the most expensive month, with a total of £98,878 claimed in 9,224 cases compared to 1,963 cases in April securing £24,244 recompense.
ScotRail has faced heavy criticism over cancelled and delayed services in the past few months and was ordered to put in place an improvement plan to bring performance in line with levels required by its Scottish Government contract.
Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Liam Kerr said: “It’s no surprise the bill has surpassed £500,000 for the last nine months when you consider the problems on our railways.
“As well as passengers, you have to feel for the staff, who are doing their best with no help from the Scottish Government, and they will be wondering how transport minister Humza Yousaf ever allowed it to get this bad.”
Earlier this week, ScotRail said its performance had improved but the yearly figure is still short of the Scottish Government target.
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe