JEREMY Corbyn has accused the SNP of failing to support nationalisation of the railways because of its links to the transport tycoon Sir Brian Souter.
The Labour leader suggested the SNP was influenced by Souter's support for the party, including £2.5 million in donations.
Corbyn's attack comes as the Scottish Government continues to face claims from unions and opposition parties that it is failing to use its powers to renationalise rail in Scotland.
Ministers have been urged to strip Dutch firm Abellio of the ScotRail franchise it was awarded in 2015 in a 10-year deal worth up to £6bn, but with the option for the Scottish government to cancel it at the halfway point.
Speaking to the Sunday Herald, Corbyn suggested the SNP's failure to promote nationalisation was influenced by Souter's involvement in running a separate rail service with his Stagecoach company.
A consortium of Stagecoach and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Trains was awarded the contract to run services on the East Coast main line from London to Edinburgh in 2014.
Corbyn said the SNP had failed to speak out against the UK Government's controversial decision to return the East Coast mainline services to the private sector after five years under state control.
He said: "We need public ownership of our railways. It works and delivers huge surpluses for the public exchequer – £1bn profit was made by East Coast when it was temporarily brought back under public control.
"It is a scandal that East Coast was then re-privatised. Not that the SNP said so – maybe that’s not surprising, given that SNP Brian Souter stood to gain from his stake in the East Coast private franchise."
The Labour leader has suggested the SNP's failings over East Coast mainline was reflected in its handling of the ScotRail franchise.
Corbyn, in a speech in Glasgow last week, said: "It’s not 'taking back control', and it’s not ‘standing up for Scotland’ when Scotland’s rail services are franchised out to the Dutch state operator – helping them subsidise their own railways with profits they make here, despite a poor and worsening performance."
However, the SNP hit back at Corbyn and said the party will fulfil an election pledge to ensure a non-profit organisation is in position to bid for the rail contract whenever it next comes up for renewal.
An SNP spokesperson said: "This is ludicrous from Labour who spent 13 years in government increasing privatisation of our public services, and are now resigned to carping from the sidelines, as an utterly ineffective opposition that are handing the Tories power on a plate."
A Stagecoach Group spokesperson, in response, said: "Taxpayers, passengers and local communities are getting a far better deal under Virgin Trains."
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