ScotRail app problems may not be fixed by end of the year, MSPs hear

Ongoing problems with ScotRail's new app may not be fixed by the end of the year.

About 3,000 complaints were made about the mobile system in its first 10 days of operation, with users experiencing a series of "glitches" that left them locked out of their accounts.

ScotRail's managing director Joanne Maguire told MSPs the company behind the app, SilverRail Technologies, made operating system changes "at short notice" before it went live.

Maguire said ScotRail was in daily contact with the firm, but declined to say whether they would be rectified before the end of the year.

SilverRail Technologies won an £83m nine-year contract to run the app.

More than 220,000 people downloaded the app on its 30 July launch day without a beta testing phase, which could have identified bugs.

ScotRail had switched its ticket booking platform from Trainline to SilverRail.

But users quickly identified a number of issues including journeys failing to appear in search results, season passes not activating and an inability to add a railcard or other discounts.

Hundreds of passengers posted complaints on social media.

Maguire said there had been "internal user testing" of the app, but there had not been the opportunity to test it with travellers.

She told the Scottish Parliament's transport committee ScotRail was "forensically examining" what could have been done differently before the launch.

But while she apologised to passengers for the current problems, she said there was no date for when fixes may be rolled out.

"The launch of the app hasn't been good enough and for that I apologise," she said.

"We know that day one wasn't good enough. We had significant challenges with log-ons and there have then been six other days when we've had challenges, and the service we have provided hasn't been good enough."

Maguire was asked by comitteee convener Willie Rennie MSP whether she was "confident" the app would be fixed by Christmas.

Maguire said: "I absolutely give this committee my commitment that we are working day in, day out and it will be as early as we possibly can."

ScotRail returned to public ownership in April 2022, 25 years after it was privatised.

The Scottish government scrapped peak rail fares in September last year in a bid to get more commuters out of cars and onto trains.

Prior to its launch, ScotRail said the new app would make the "customer experience simpler, faster, and more reliable".

Transport committee convener, Willie Rennie, told Maguire he had personal experience of issues with the app after a return ticket from Glasgow to Edinburgh did not show up.

He said staff at the station let him through the barrier, but he had seen others encountering similar issues.

Rennie said SilverRail, which also operates systems for a number of rail operators in England and Wales, had a "track record of having problems" with similar apps for other firms.

Maguire said SilverRail had been the only "compliant bidder" for the contract when it was put out for tender.

She added she had been "assured" the company had "learned from that and improvements had been made".