ONLY four percent of Borders Railway commuters are satisfied with the service provided, according to a poll.

The survey, conducted by Rachel Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, asked regular passengers for their views on the performance, reliability, efficiency and quality of service offered by ScotRail on the line.

76 percent of respondents had been late for work because of delays or cancellations, with 78 percent of those polled having missed appointments due to the unreliability of the service.

One commuter stated that they had to set off three hours before the start of their shift at work due to unreliability.

Another respondent, a medical professional, said that problems on the line had led to them arriving late to their clinic.

Responding to the poll, Ms Hamilton said: “I constantly receive casework from constituents about ScotRail’s failure to provide a decent service.

“Until something changes, I will keep holding ScotRail and the SNP Government to account.

“I will keep requesting meetings to ensure that they get the message loud and clear, that the service just is not good enough.

“Cancellations last week just show that nothing much has changed, and I am looking forward to voicing these concerns with ScotRail management at our next meeting.

Despite the issues highlighted by her constituents, Ms Hamilton has faith in the continued private ownership of Scottish railways.

She added: “Public ownership would shift huge risk and potentially millions of pounds onto the taxpayer, who is already paying for a poor service.

“We need to see greater accountability and transparency, not nationalisation.

“Thanks must go to everyone who participated in the survey.

“Your feedback is very much welcomed, and it strengthens our case for demanding urgent action to improve our Borders Railway service.”