ScotRail's punctuality has significantly improved over recent weeks according to newly published statistics. 

89.7% of trains arrived within five minutes of their scheduled time in the four weeks up until January 7.

There was a 6% rise compared to the four weeks previous and a 2.8% rise compared to to the same period last year. 

ScotRail's performance for the last 12 months has now risen to 90% making it the second best performing operator in the UK. 

Official figures show the figures for on-time trains improving for the third year in a row.

PPM for England Wales for the last four weeks was 87.1% with the average annual figure for Scotland sitting at 87.4%.

ScotRail Alliance managing director Phil Verster said:"These latest figures show that our Performance Improvement Plan is starting to produce results for our customers and we are achieving this in the middle of the biggest upgrade to our railway since Victorian times. 

"We can do more and we can go higher, and every single one of the 7500 people who work on Scotland’s railway is committed to doing just that.

“The sheer scale of the work we are doing to improve the railway has resulted in more disruption than normal. This means that our customers have had to put up with a lot over the past few months.

"We have done everything we can to keep people moving during this unprecedented period. I hope our customers can take some encouragement from the continued improvement.

"Later this year, our modernisation work will start to bear fruit. The introduction of our new faster, longer, greener trains will dramatically increase the number of seats we have available - and will help us to reduce journey times.

"In the months that follow there will be even more trains, more services and more upgraded stations. That is all good news for passengers."