Transport Minister Humza Yousaf has called on Network Rail to devolve its rail powers to Scottish Ministers.

The call comes after an independent EY review exposed weaknesses in the rail company's corporate governance of major rail infrastructure projects.

Highlights included weaknesses in project governance, controls and performance reporting, as well as weak and inconsistent cost forecasting and significantly higher costs to comply with national standards.

Speaking during the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee in Edinburgh today, 26 October, Minister Yousaf said: "Scottish Ministers and indeed passengers up and down the country quite rightly have high expectations of our railway. At the heart of our £5bn programme of improvements is an underlying need to provide best value for the public purse while delivering a first class service.

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"This service has clearly not been delivered and that is why the Scottish Government rejected initial projected cost increases and schedule revisions from Network Rail. Instead, we instigated a full and urgent review into all of our major rail projects to fully understand the implications of the ORR report.

"We know passengers are already frustrated, not least as this review comes hot on the heels of the need for ScotRail to implement a Performance Improvement Plan – something we are closely monitoring. While we are doing what we can to address the issues at hand, our powers are limited.

"That is why I have made clear to Network Rail's Chair, Sir Peter Hendy, and Chief Executive Mark Carne, my expectation that they will increase the scale and pace of their decentralisation agenda. As a minimum I expect this to include the full transfer of responsibilities for the development, design and delivery of infrastructure projects to their Scotland route.

"I have also raised the matter of full devolution of rail powers with the UK Railways Minister Paul Maynard and I will continue to press the issue as only with full powers can the Scottish Ministers consider the full range of options for structuring our railways in order to meet Scotland's needs."

(LM/MH)