A REPORT from consumer organisation Which? has described ScotRail as amongst the five worst train operators in the UK in terms of its mechanism for passengers applying for compensation.

And Cowdenbeath MSP Annabelle Ewing has written to Alex Hynes, Managing Director of ScotRail, seeking his response to the report which was published on Thursday.

It found that ScotRail was amongst the worst five train operators in the UK in terms of the complication of the process for claiming compensation for delayed and cancelled trains. The MSP has been particularly disappointed at the quality of services to passengers who use Cardenden, Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly stations on the Fife Circle.

Ms Ewing said: “It will come as little surprise to many of my constituents to discover that ScotRail was rated as one of the worst five train operators in the UK in terms of the complication of the process for claiming compensation for delayed and cancelled trains, as determined by a report by the consumer magazine Which?

“We have an ongoing issue with the frequent cancellation of services on the Fife Circle so I know that a great number of my constituents who commute regularly on that route will have encountered Scotrail’s overly complex claims procedure".

Ms Ewing added: “No one should be required to provide 24 separate pieces of information just to claim back a train ticket!

“I have written to Alex Hynes asking what plans he has to review the way in which the compensation claims process works so that my constituents – and other passengers across Scotland – who suffer delays and cancellations can access the compensation to which they are entitled, without first having to navigate an unnecessarily tangled web of requirements.

“My message to ScoRail is twofold: simplify the claims procedure and sort out the need for those claims.”