Transport minister Humza Yousaf has promised to closely monitor progress in improving rail services until they return to “acceptable contractual standards”.
There has been widespread criticism of the reliability of ScotRail trains since Dutch firm Abellio took over the franchise.
During a statement at Holyrood, Mr Yousaf apologised to passengers for any “bad experiences” on the railways and outlined planned improvements.
But opposition parties heaped more pressure on the minister, urging him to publish the improvement plan which ScotRail was forced to produce in September and its timetable.
Anger over rail services came to a head last Thursday when a train breakdown in Edinburgh caused disruption for commuters across Scotland.
Mr Yousaf – who has been criticised for stating ScotRail “isn’t a poor service” – said he “fully understands the dissatisfaction of passengers and the inconvenience that is caused”.
He told MSPs: “Let me firstly say to any passenger who has had a bad experience on our railways that I am sorry, and that this Government is committed to improving the service that you receive.
“I can advise that ScotRail has learned lessons to ensure that they are better prepared for contingencies and, importantly, communication with passengers when such incidents do take place.”
Mr Yousaf said the plan includes 250 individual actions – some of which are detailed below – and “work is well under way to deliver them”.
He said: “It is the duty and responsibility of Abellio to fulfil their obligation under that contract.
“It is my job to hold them to account and I will personally be closely monitoring Abellio and their progress on the improvement plan until performance returns to acceptable contractual standards.”
Mr Yousaf also confirmed he will meet with unions, political parties and others next week to set out options for a public sector bid to run the railways.
Such a bid could be ready for 2020 when a clause in the 10-year contract with Abellio would allow it to be broken.
Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser accused Mr Yousaf of working on the public sector bid option “to try and win over the unions who have called for the minister’s head”.
He said: “We’ve heard a lot of promises from the minister today but what passengers want to know is: when will they see improvements?”
Mr Yousaf said ScotRail is performing 2% higher than the average for Britain and had 7% higher passenger satisfaction.
He said the SNP was bringing forward the public sector bid option as it was a manifesto pledge.
