Abellio provided a fully compliant bid to operate the franchise including a new fleet of trains from Hitachi which met the specification stated in the invitation to tender and have subsequently been included as commitments within the franchise agreement. The four other bids are 'Commercially Confidential'.

ScotRail are paying to lease the trains.

Disabled access policy has not been devolved to Scottish Ministers and remains an issue that is reserved to the UK Government.

a) The responsibility for assessing Abellio ScotRail Ltd.’s Disabled People’s Protection Policy (DPPP) rests with the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The ORR last reviewed Abellio ScotRail Ltd.’s DPPP on 18 May 2016 and published confirmation that it continued to be in compliance with their obligations.

b) Abellio ScotRail Ltd hold a current operating licence on the basis that the ORR continue to be content that that the conditions of their operating licence are being met.

The Scottish Government therefore considers that all services operated by Abellio ScotRail Ltd are compliant with their DPPP and licence obligations.

<>We have discussed the operation of the existing rail network (diesel and electric) in the range of regular scheduled discussions with all stakeholders in areas of mutual interest.

Disabled access policy is a reserved matter for the UK Government and our franchisee is required to comply with the relevant legislation. The responsibility for regulating and enforcing the equality legislation rests with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-28538 on 3 December 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Due to commercial confidentiality these values cannot be currently disclosed.

Due to commercial confidentiality these values cannot be currently disclosed. Earnings before income tax information is disclosed within the published ScotRail Annual Report and Accounts at Companies House. The financial year 2015-16 latest lodging date is 30 September 2016.

Schedule 8.1 (Section 3) of the franchise agreement details the Revenue Share Adjustment, which limits the proportion of annual revenue above target ScotRail can retain to no more than 50%. A redacted copy of the franchise agreement can be found on Transport Scotland’s website:

http://www.transport.gov.scot/rail/scotrail-franchise/public-register

The Scottish Government, via our national transport agency (Transport Scotland) meet frequently with ScotRail to monitor their performance in the delivery of the franchise agreement. Minutes of the four weekly franchise performance meeting can be found in the public register on Transport Scotland’s website.

The known advertised salary for a ScotRail conductor in 2016-17 is £29,459 per annum. The second person grade or position is not publicly available at this time.