The independent results reveal best-ever ratings for First ScotRail, with higher scores than UK train operators in 36 of the 37 categories, including availability of staff on trains – some 28 percentage points above the national average.

It is especially pleasing that customer satisfaction has increased in challenging areas which we have focussed upon – including how well delays are dealt with; connections with other forms of public transport, and car parking facilities.

We also scored higher than other train operators for the attitude and helpfulness of staff on trains, at 84% some 21 points above the national average, and for train toilets, 17 points higher than the average.

On overall customer satisfaction, ScotRail at 88% was seven points ahead of the average for UK operators, and our value of money rating rose sharply, up seven points to 59% and 13 points higher than the UK average – underpinning all our work to freeze off peak fares for the second year in a row and the ongoing roll out of free Wi-Fi.

The survey, conducted by Passenger Focus in the year we delivered more than 1.1m passengers to Glasgow 2014 venues, also reveals ScotRail’s year-on-year ratings have improved in 26 areas – including ticket buying facilities, space for luggage, and overall environment.

I am immensely proud of our staff following a tremendous year of customer service improvements, rounded off by their efforts during the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup.

There is no doubt that, come April, we will be handing over a strong-performing and customer-focussed railway to the new franchisee.

What we have done, together, over the last decade speaks for itself – from increasing passenger numbers by 34% to more than 86 million a year to achieving both record high customer satisfaction ratings and punctuality and reliability performance.

ScotRail has become a top performing UK train operating company and I can assure you that we are delivering a smooth transition for the thousands of employees affected by the change and are supporting Abellio through the process.

We have enjoyed a fantastic 10 years successfully delivering Scotland’s railways, and it is with a great sense of pride that we leave Scotland’s railways in good shape for the next leg of the journey.

Full details of the National Rail Passenger Survey are available at – www.passengerfocus.org.uk/