THE SNP Government is looking at putting Scotlands railways into a co-operative, with workers and passengers taking charge of the service as part of a possible plan for a publicly owned train network.
A source close to Scotland's Transport Minister Humza Yousaf revealed the option for the future of rail after the government staged a summit with trade unions, officials, pressure groups and politicians.
The Sunday Herald previously reported that a model ministers are understood to have in mind for rail renationalisation is based on CalMac Ferries Ltd (CFL), which describes itself as a wholly-owned subsidiary of David MacBrayne Ltd, which is wholly owned by Scottish ministers.
Yousaf has said that formal engagement would begin in the New Year to look at creating a public sector bid for future ScotRail franchises amid ongoing criticism of performance under current operator Abellio.
The Scottish Government has faced repeated calls to strip Abellio of the ScotRail franchise it was awarded last year in a 10-year deal worth up to £6bn but with the option for the Scottish government to cancel it at the halfway point.
However, Yousaf is under growing pressure to commit to renationalisation of rail and was repeatedly pressed on the issue at the rail summit.
Last night, a source close to Yousaf told the Sunday Herald that the minister was now looking at other models of public ownership of the railways as well as the one based on CalMac Ferries.
Yousaf is understood to be sympathetic towards the idea of having the service run as a "co-operative involving workers and passengers".
However, "no firm proposals have yet been put forward", the source close to the minister said.
A similar plan has already been put forward by the train drivers' union ASLEF for a railway in Scotland that is "owned by and for the people of Scotland".
Under proposals set out by the union, a not-for-profit train company would seek to give employees and passengers a say in how the railway is run. The policy proposals were drawn up in 2013 by rail policy expert Professor Paul Salveson in a report entitled ScotRail: A People's Railway for Scotland.
Kevin Lindsay, Scottish Secretary of ASLEF, speaking after the talks with Yousaf, said: "We're happy to look at a not for profit co-operative that brings rail into public ownership.
"We're not opposed to the CalMac option, but the objective had to be to get a publicly owned rail service that stops dividends being paid out. It also has to be properly funded."
However, other rail unions such as the RMT and the Transport and Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) stated their preference at the talks with Yousaf for a publicly owned train service that comes under the authority of ministers, that would be similar to the CalMac model.
Yousaf was urged by Mick Hogg of the RMT union to look at such an option as well as an "in-house" model of a "social railways" that would be run by Transport Scotland, but would involve worker and passenger representatives.
Hogg, the RMT Scotland organiser, said: "The CalMac option ticks the box for us, but we'd also like to explore an in-house service."
However, all the rail unions have expressed opposition to having a public sector-private partnership to run the railways due to concerns it would leave the current operator in charge of services.
Sam Tarry, TSSA national political officer said: "The Scottish Government has talked about the talks being historic, but they will only be historic if we begin the process towards getting a publicly owned railways."
Stephen Boyd, assistant secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, who also took part in the talks, added: "We want a viable proposal that's going to work."
Abellio has said that it is "completely committed to the ScotRail franchise and investing in one of the most significant programmes of upgrade and modernisation since the railway was built".
