NEW ScotRail operator Abellio made a profit of £1 million a month after taking over the railway franchise last year.

Accounts filed at Companies House show that the Dutch firm earned £9.5 million after tax during its first nine months running Scotland's rail network, half the amount racked up by First Group during its final year as the ScotRail franchise-holder.

Abellio replaced First in April 2015 after a competition which also included bids from Arriva, MTR, and former East Coast operator, National Express.

Previous accounts showed that First Group's profits from the ScotRail franchise increased steadily from £14.2m to £19m during its final three years as operator.

However, the first filing by Abellio only covers the trading period from April 1 to December 31 2015, rather than a full financial year. Profits were also curtailed by a one-off payment of £5.2m by Abellio to First Group to purchase the assets held under the franchise.

The report accompanying the accounts notes that the nine-month period included key events such as the opening of the new Borders Railway, where passenger numbers have been "exceeding expectations".

It continued: "There is also an extensive program of enhancements underway to improve Scotland's Railway, and during this financial year, Winchburgh Tunnel was closed for six weeks as part of the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme.

"The disruption to our customers was minimised through careful planning with our Alliance and other industry partners.

"The closure of the Forth Road Bridge in December saw an unprecedented demand for rail travel over the Forth Rail Bridge, and an extra 8000 seats per day were provided at short notice to help keep Scotland moving as the Road Bridge was repaired."

The breakdown of the accounts showed that Abellio ScotRail had a total turnover of £486m between April and December 2015 and operating costs of £473m. Ticket sales to passengers was the biggest single source of income at £240m.

Abellio paid £2.5m in tax on its profits and no dividends were either paid or proposed.

The accounts also show that the bill for wages and salaries was £132m, with £1.86m spent on redundancy packages for staff during the period. The average number of ScotRail employees, including directors, was 4,890.

The accounts come days after Abellio ScotRail boss Phil Verster, told MSPs that changes to international standards for rail electrification had "added critical cost and time" to the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP).

It emerged in the summer that the flagship electrification project between Scotland's biggest cities would now be completed seven months late, in July 2017, although the it is not yet clear how much the delays will cost.

Progress has been held up by a series of alterations which had to be made along the route in order to make the newly-electrified line compliant with new European safety legislation. The rules increased the minimum distance away from the wires that was considered safe for bridges or railway platforms, and imposed stricter height demands on railway boundary walls.

Meanwhile, Abellio ScotRail has also settled a long-running dispute with RMT over driver-only operations by agreeing that conductors will be retained on the new electric trains due for delivery next September.

The arrangement, which will see drivers opening train doors and conductors closing them, will require door panels to be fitted inside the trains at an additional cost.