SCOTTISH Labour revealed yesterday that almost 50 trains a day are cancelled or severely delayed on Scotland’s railways, amid mounting calls for the rail network to return to public ownership.

Figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) showed that a daily average of 49 trains had been cancelled or delayed by more than half an hour since Dutch operator Abellio took over the ScotRail contract in April 2015.

Scottish Labour transport spokesman Neil Bibby MSP said: “Not only are people travelling on expensive and overcrowded trains, nearly 50 services a day are significantly late or even cancelled.