Jenny Gilruth: Political Journey

Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth knows that “people don’t always trust” that Scotland’s road, rail and ferry services are “going to work”.

Bus usage has dipped, rail traffic has decreased further, and the word “ferries” has become more synonymous with the Ferguson Marine row than inter-island travel. Since ScotRail was nationalised, services have been repeatedly stalled by industrial action that now threatens to spill over and across the Christmas period.

Although ScotRail workers have accepted a new increased pay deal, averting a string of strikes this month in a package which has also extended the agreement on rest day working, another UK-wide row continues to jeopardise services. UK Government-owned Network Rail, which runs railway infrastructure rather than trains, remains in dispute with the RMT union about job cuts. Planned industrial action by affected workers could still affect Scotland’s network in the coming weeks.

So, it’s no wonder that Gilruth, who is less than a year in post, has a lot in her in-tray. “Transport is 100 miles an hour, every day,” she tells Holyrood. “You can’t predict what’s going to happen, you have to brace yourself for that. For the first couple of weeks, I was thinking ‘when will it stop?’, but it doesn’t stop. You have to prepare yourself. That’s the thing I have really focused on over the last nine or 10 months, being prepared and trying…