The man in charge of Scotland’s transport system has admitted he is not an expert on the topic.
Humza Yousaf, the transport minister, made the concession as he was grilled by MSPs over his record in holding contractors to account on the country’s beleaguered rail network.
It came as it emerged that the cost of the rail improvement programme has soared by £379 million.
Asked about what he is doing to keep tabs on contract costs from the likes of Network Rail, he insisted the Government is “monitoring closely every single project”.
But he caveated his answer by characterising himself as “not being an expert”.
Jamie Greene, the Scottish Conservative MSP and a connectivity committee member, said: “Mr Yousaf passed the buck to Network Rail this morning and then admitted he wasn’t even a transport expert.
“There have been plenty of warnings about the cost over-runs at Network Rail. The least people expect is a minister with the expertise necessary to get a grip.”
Earlier, a Transport Scotland report revealed it will now cost £1.5 billion for five improvement projects in a bid to turnaround Scotland’s under-fire rail system.
Mr Yousaf then appeared before MSPs amid growing anger from commuters over delays, cancellations and over-crowding at ScotRail, which is run by Abellio.
The Glasgow Pollok MSP told the Scottish Parliament’s rural economy and connectivity committee that contingency plans are in place for ministers to step in as the operator of last resort, but he said he does not expect it to happen.
He said: “I don’t see us going into that territory, there’s an improvement plan there.
“I will be looking to see and make sure that improvement plan is enacted upon and we get the necessary PPM figures back up and we also see improvements in our railway.
“We have the option of the operator of last resort but I don’t expect me to be running our railways in the near future.”
Dutch firm Abellio was awarded the franchise in 2015 for a decade but ministers have a break clause after five years if punctuality falls below 84.3%.
The operator released details of its performance improvement plan last week.
That includes special protection for “golden” trains, which are those that have the biggest knock-on effects to other services if delayed, and an £8m warchest to ensure “critical infrastructure” is working at its “absolute best”.
Tayside is one of four areas that will be subject to “specifically tailored upgrade programmes” to lift performance.
