UNIONS have slammed the appointment of an academic with a “cuts agenda” as the new chair of the Scottish government’s rail company.

But SNP transport secretary Fiona Hyslop said Professor Iain Docherty would bring a “wealth of knowledge and experience” to the role at Scottish Rail Holdings Limited, which owns ScotRail and the Caledonian Sleeper.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “In 2021 Prof Docherty, a former non-executive director of both ScotRail and Transport Scotland, made a blatant attempt to further a cuts agenda that would be devastating for Scotland’s railway.