DUNFERMLINE MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville says she has obtained figures from ScotRail which show that rail performance in Fife has improved greatly.

Between December 11, 2016, and January 7, 2017, the punctuality for Fife services increased by eight per cent on the same period in 2015-16, according to the MSP.

She says this means that the average performance rate in the Fife area now sits at 91.2 per cent, which is above the national ScotRail average of 90 per cent.

In addition, “stop skipping” instances on Fife services have reduced for the second consecutive period, and was less than half of that experienced during the same period in 2015-2016, according to the figures being reported by Ms Somerville.

She claimed these statistics show that rail performance in Fife has improved after a ScotRail improvement plan was published by Scottish Government Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf MSP, on November 29.

Shirley-Anne said: “These figures are highly encouraging, because they show that rail performance is improving in Fife.

"I’m also pleased to see that 'stop skipping' has been greatly reduced. It comes as no coincidence that in the period after the Scottish Government’s improvement plan was published, ScotRail’s trains have become more reliable.

“I think that this is a testament to the hard work of the Transport Minister, as well as ScotRail and their staff.

"Humza has identified what the problems were on ScotRail services, and has designed solutions which have clearly worked.

"Added together with the new class 170 trains that are coming to the Fife circle, these performance figures show that the future of rail in Fife is very promising.”