THE First Minister has travelled by train only once while on official business in the first half of this year, despite pledging to improve rail travel just this week.
Nicola Sturgeon has taken more than 200 private car journeys and flew 15 times between January and June, according to official records, but only boarded one train during the same time.
The figures were revealed just days after she announced on Monday that feasibility studies are being commissioned to improve train capacity, reliability and journey times on routes in the UK.
Margaret Thatcher famously squeezed investment in rail during her reign in the 1980s and is said not to have taken a single trip on a train during her 11 years as Prime Minister.
She was responsible for selling off state-owned businesses related to the railways, including catering, engineering and British Transport Hotels.
Her successor, John Major, finally broke up and sold British Rail between 1994 and 1997.
Ms Sturgeon’s sole rail journey was between London and Edinburgh, a route she travelled by air nine times.
More recent journeys have not been published on police advice.
Scotland’s Transport Minister Humza Yousaf took 33 train trips.
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