TRANSPORT Minister Humza Yousaf has attacked Tory ministers for refusing Scotland a seat on the board of the UK's new state-run rail service.
The East Coast Main Line service is to be brought back under public control following the failure of the current franchise.
Yousaf wrote to UK Transport Secretary Chris Grayling asking for Scottish representation on the board of the new company.
However, Yousaf said Grayling had refused his request despite the "significance of Scotland’s interests in cross-border services".
Yousaf said: “I appreciate that the secretary of state has taken the decision to run the new LNER franchise boards, in so far as is possible, in a similar manner to a private company.
"However, they are still a publicly owned company.
“The franchise runs on one of the two essential rail transport arteries between Scotland and England. That we will not have a representative on the board, alongside the Department for Transport, is wholly unacceptable.
“It is only fitting that the Rt Hon Chris Grayling reconsiders this position and give the Scottish Government its rightful place.”
The line serves routes from the Highlands through to London, including services between the UK and Scottish capitals.
Current operators Stagecoach and Virgin Trains will hand over responsibility from June 24, but Grayling's department will only run the service until a new public-private partnership can be appointed in 2020.
The loss-making East Coast service is to be replaced in the interim by a public sector "operator of last resort" and is being renamed London and North Eastern Railway (LNER).
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