IT is fair to say that, having spent more than three decades working at the sharp end of the UK rail industry, its capacity for surprise has long since left Dominic Booth – even in the febrile political atmosphere that surrounds the ScotRail franchise north of the Border.

As managing director of Abellio UK, Mr Booth has ultimate executive responsibility for Scotland’s often embattled railway network, albeit it is Alex Hynes who takes charge of the day-to-day running of ScotRail as managing director. And while it seems the performance of the trains has never been under so much scrutiny – the debate over nationalisation being a particularly hot potato, more on which later – it’s very much all in a day’s work for the rail veteran.

With a career spanning senior roles in the rail industry, in both the nationalised and privatised roles behind him, it is perhaps not surprising.

“Railway is a very politicised industry and always has been for my whole career.” said Mr Booth, when asked whether he has been surprised by the level of interest shown in ScotRail since Abellio took over in April 2015. “It sort of ebbs and flows over time, and over geographies.

“In the last two or three years railways have been particularly politicised.

“Is it any different in Scotland? I’m not so sure. It can be a bit more intense. But generally speaking I would say it’s just what you see across the United Kingdom.”

Mr Booth may be unfazed by the scrutiny. But there is no doubt that ScotRail has felt the full glare of the public since Abellio, a Dutch state-owned railway company, came to Scotland. It has certainly not helped that ScotRail has not always met the required standard for reliability and punctuality, as assessed by the Public Performance Measurement (PPM), the industry benchmark.

The latest available accounts for Abellio ScotRail show that its performance dipped in the year ended December 31, 2016, leading it to be issued with a performance plan notice by Transport Scotland.

Performance then improved, but at the start of this year ScotRail found itself under renewed scrutiny. That came when it emerged ScotRail had failed to meet a key Transport Scotland performance target in the 12 months to January 6, amid the challenges brought by winter weather.

Around the same time, ScotRail was then found to have propped up the table of rail companies operating in Scotland following the latest survey of commuter passengers carried out by Which?

Mr Booth points out that, while it takes the Which? report seriously, the industry gives more credence to the National Rail Passenger Survey, which canvasses the views of significantly bigger passenger sample (86 versus 1,000-plus). The most recent NRPS survey, published in July, found that 90 per cent of passengers were satisfied with their journeys on ScotRail trains in the spring of 2017, up from 86 per cent when the previous survey was carried out in the preceding autumn. On that basis, Abellio says ScotRail performed better than the UK’s seven major train operating companies.

It is also keen to emphasise that its performance challenges have coincided with a major investment programme in Scotland’s railways, which includes the electrification of lines across the Central Belt, the replacement of tunnels and introduction of new high-speed rolling stock.

“In the end, the true test is what level of service you are producing to the passenger satisfaction or not,” said Mr Booth. “We can talk about this survey or that survey, and some are perhaps more statistically valid than others.

“But at the end of the day we need to be having a good relationship with our passengers. It needs to be a trusted relationship, and it needs to be one that they see continual improvement [on].”

The ongoing public scrutiny of ScotRail, not to mention the thrust of current Labour Party policy, has sparked considerable debate over nationalisation. It is a matter which irks Mr Booth, who believes there is a widely-held misconception over the term when it comes to UK rail.

Unlike energy or telecommunications, which are fully privatised, Mr Booth points out that much of the rail industry continues to be nationalised. Network Rail, the agency responsible for infrastructure such as tracks and overseas lines, is a public body, while government has responsibility for setting fares.

Mr Booth argues that the debate around railways is “often ill-informed”, contending that it “tends to be typified by nationalisation, when what really needs to be debated are some of the policy items like what level the fares are set at.”

Mr Booth said: “I think it’s perhaps a wee bit disappointing that important debates ... about policy decisions are being conflated and confused with a different issue. I think that’s a little bit unhelpful.”

Mr Booth has experience of both the nationalised and privatised eras. He joined the industry on the British Rail graduate trainee scheme after leaving university, going on to hold key frontline positions such as station manager at Liverpool Street and King’s Cross in London.

In the run-up to privatisation, which got under way in 1996, he worked on the development of shadow franchises. He then ran franchises for Connex Transport before being headhunted by Prism Rail. When Prism was acquired by National Express, he became managing director of London Lines, before becoming deputy chief executive of its trains division. He joined Abellio in 2007.

Pressed on whether privatisation or nationalisation is best suited for rail, he said there are pros and cons to both. But he repeated that the debate should be about policies, not ideology.

What stirs particular passion in Mr Booth is the stuff of the rail industry itself, the tunnels, the platforms and the rolling stock, not to mention the vital role it plays in Scottish life. He is excited about what ScotRail terms the biggest investment in Scottish rail since the Victorian era.

Work on electrifying the Central Belt network is ongoing while a new fleet of Hitachi electric trains – costing £450 million – will be brought into service soon.

“This year will also see the roll-out of the inter-city service that will join up the seven cities of Scotland with high-speed diesel trains,” Mr Booth added.

“This year will see a real transformation of the service offering for customers and passengers.”