AS THE debate over whether Scotland’s railways should be nationalised intensifies, ScotRail’s performance has again gone under the microscope.

The train operator has accentuated the positives out of the latest punctuality figures – which include claiming it remains the best performing large operator in the UK after data shows that 90.4 per cent of trains met a target of arriving within at least five minutes of their scheduled time (the target was 91.7 per cent).

In recent days it has been reported that former Transpennine Express managing director Nick Donovan has been parachuted in to devise a plan to improve punctuality It has been claimed that ScotRail has fallen short of objectives amid “challenging” autumn and winter conditions on the railways.

READ MORE: ScotRail ranks bottom in Scotland says consumer watchdog study

Last week, Transport Minister Humza Yousaf declared the operator’s performance “hasn’t been to the standard” he would expect.

He added that Mr Donovan’s experience in railways across the UK will be of “great use”. ScotRail had highlighted incidents that had had an impact on performance, including signalling and points failures.

The latest performance statistics came two weeks after think-tank Reform Scotland said Scotland needs to take control of the railway network after it said more than half of all train delays are caused by problems such as faulty tracks or signalling. More ScotRail services would be on time if the operator of Scotland’s railway infrastructure – which is currently run by public body Network Rail – was answerable to Holyrood ministers and not to the UK Government, the think-tank said.

But there is continuing debate over whether Dutch public transport Abellio should continue to have the Scotrail contract and whether it should go to a publicly owned company instead amid claims the network would run more efficiently with cheaper ticket prices if it is in public hands rather than with a private firm. Mr Yousaf is known to be preparing a public sector bid to take over Scotland’s railways, when the contract held by Abellio ends which will be 2022 at the earliest or until 2025 under the current terms.

READ MORE: ScotRail ranks bottom in Scotland says consumer watchdog study

But with the support of a petition which has now been supported by more than 21,000, Manuel Cortes, the general secretary of the transport staff union TSSA has said the minister is “dragging his heels” on delivery and has called on the minister to take “the bold political decision” for full nationalisation of ScotRail without recourse to any bidding “preferably by using a break clause in 2019”.

He believed a publicly owned company could lose in a bidding war with private companies in 2022 and that the minister should take action to institute full public ownership immediately.

A Common Weal think-tank analysis for the TSSA transport workers union said that nationalised Scottish railways would lead to average fare cuts of 6.5 per cent across the service. It also said that there was the “potential” to provide the same source of “collective pride” about the railway that is felt about the NHS.