The ScotRail Alliance has confirmed that its train punctuality performance for the past 12 months has risen to 90%, making it the second best performing large operator in the UK.
The Moving Annual Average figure is a standard industry measure used across the UK to calculate average train service punctuality over the course of a year.
The rise is part of a significant improvement in punctuality over the past four weeks, including the busy Christmas and Hogmanay period.
ScotRail achieved an official performance figure [PPM] of 89.7% in the four weeks to Saturday 7 January - a rise of 6% on the previous period, and 2.8% higher year on year.
During the latest period, three significant disruptive events affected services: overhead line issues at Hyndland on Hogmanay and again on 6 January, and disruption caused when a child’s scooter was thrown onto overhead lines at Airdrie. Collectively, these events led to a 0.7% reduction in the monthly PPM, with underlying performance above 90%.
This is the third period in a row in which ScotRail's train performance has improved.
During the four weeks to 7 January, ScotRail handled 6.7 million passenger journeys on around 57,000 train services. A traditionally busy time of year, three of the busiest five days of 2016 were recorded in December – on the 12th, 16th and 17th of the month – as passengers started to enjoy the festive season.
PPM for England and Wales for the last four weeks was 87.1%, with the annual average figure trailing Scotland at 87.4%.
ScotRail Alliance managing director Phil Verster said: "These latest figures show that our Performance Improvement Plan is starting to produce results for our customers and we are achieving this in the middle of the biggest upgrade to our railway since Victorian times.
“We can do more and we can go higher, and every single one of the 7500 people who work on Scotland’s railway is committed to doing just that.
“The sheer scale of the work we are doing to improve the railway has resulted in more disruption than normal. This means that our customers have had to put up with a lot over the past few months. We have done everything we can to keep people moving during this unprecedented period. I hope our customers can take some encouragement from the continued improvement.
"Later this year, our modernisation work will start to bear fruit. The introduction of our new faster, longer, greener trains will dramatically increase the number of seats we have available - and will help us to reduce journey times. In the months that follow there will be even more trains, more services and more upgraded stations. That is all good news for passengers."