NEARLY 6000 trains have been cancelled by ScotRail in the past four months, it has been revealed.

Between April and July, the rail operator is reported to have fully or partially cancelled 5774 of its services.

During this period the cost of compensation payments made to passengers by ScotRail is said to have been ‘over a quarter of a million pounds’.

These figures were published recently after being obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Conservatives.

Graham Simpson MSP, Scottish Conservatives shadow transport minister, branded the cancellations as “completely unacceptable”.

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He said: “This eye-watering number of cancellations wholly exposes the monumental failures of the SNP since they took control of Scotland’s railways.

 “In the last few months alone, passengers have had to endure close to 6000 trains being either fully or partly cancelled which is completely unacceptable.

 “These endless cancellations fly in the face of Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP promising a bright new dawn for passengers two years ago and this situation shows no sign of improving any time soon.

 “On top of currently having to deal with cuts to services, passengers found out this week that they will be hit by huge price hikes as of next month.

 “These cancellations not only make passengers late for work, appointments or meeting family and friends, but they also hit the taxpayer in the pocket, with compensation payments since nationalising now close to £2 million.

 “The SNP’s transport secretary needs to get a grip on the chaos on Scotland’s railways and urgently ensure that the affordable, reliable and sustainable ScotRail that was promised by the SNP in 2022 is finally delivered.”

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Earlier this week we reported that the Scottish Government would be re-introducing peak rail fares due to a ‘lack of usage’ of the half-price fares scheme.

The one-year pilot scheme cost £40 million to introduce and saved some customers thousands of pounds.

It will officially come to an end on September 27.

The Scottish Government said analysis showed a “limited increase in the number of passengers” on train services and it did not encourage a “significant modal shift” from car to rail and pledged to consider a “future subsidy”.

Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said that people on middle incomes primarily benefited, and passenger levels increased to a maximum of 6.8 per cent but would require a 10 per cent increase to be “self-financing”.

The decision led to cross-party condemnation as well as condemnation from rail union Aslef which said it demonstrated a lack of commitment to the climate and cost-of-living crisis.

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “There is no doubt that this has been a challenging period for rail travel but ministers are hopeful that services can get back to normal soon and Scotland’s Railway continues to grow.  

“While the Peak Fares Removal Pilot was a welcome incentive over the last 12 months, it simply isn’t sustainable in the longer term.

"The Scottish Government would be open to consider future subsidy to remove peak fares should UK budget allocations to the Scottish Government improve in future years.

"In the meantime, a significant minority of people who cannot choose when they travel to and from work did and would benefit from lower-priced rail travel.  

"These include people working in retail and hospitality, so a 12-month discount on all ScotRail season tickets has been introduced, and the terms of flexipasses have been amended to create the equivalent of a 20 per cent discount."