Shadow Transport minister Jamie Greene has said that the rise in late train arrivals at Largs Railway Station is 'unacceptable' and demanded action to address the issue.

The percentage of trains arriving in Largs station within five minutes of their booked arrival time has dropped by 2.2% since February.

The newly released ScotRail figures found that in August just 86.9 per cent of trains arrived on time in Largs, compared with 89.1 per cent in February.

These figures follow a series of below average arrival times that have been previously highlighted by Shadow Transport Minister, Jamie Greene MSP.

The West Scotland Regional MSP said that these figures were concerning as 13.1 per cent of trains continue to be late into Largs. He said that the new Transport Secretary Michael Matheson has a huge challenge ahead of him if he wants to gain the trust of North Ayrshire residents in the SNP’s handling of Scotland’s railways.

Jamie Greene MSP commented: “The Scottish Government needs to understand that when trains arrive late, people are inconvenienced. This is all the more relevant for towns like Largs where people rely on the railways to work or just about their daily business. The very least people expect is a reliable train service that meets their needs.

“The fact that lateness has risen by 2.2 per cent in the last seven months is not acceptable. This problem has persisted for too long and its time that we saw improvements in the service.

“Michael Matheson has a lot of work to do if he is to regain the confidence of Largs and North Ayrshire in the SNP’s ability to manage our railways.”

Cunninghame North MSP Kenneth Gibson said: "The UK PPM PPM (Public Performance Measure) means the percentage of rail services that arrive or terminate at this location within 5 minutes of their booked arrival time. In August this was 85.0% across the UK, so Largs at 86.9% and Scotland at 88.2% are doing better than the UK average.

“Nevertheless, there is room for improvement of course and I am taking that forward.

“I see no such commitment from Mr Greene, which is no surprise. He makes no suggestion as to why the PPM last month was down. For example, this could be an issue relating to ScotRail, or Network Rail - the latter being under UK control - or something else entirely. I will find out.”