A TORY MSP’s attack on the Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf, for not travelling by train has hit the buffers.

Jackson Carlaw claimed on the day MSPs expenses were released that Humza Yousaf, currently under pressure over Abellio ScotRail’s performance, did not claim for a single train trip.

Mr Carlaw Conservative MSP for Eastwood said the public would be “furious” over Mr Yousaf’s travel arrangements.

The Tories claimed the minister hadn’t taken a train since May when Parliament returned after the election.

However, Mr Yousaf has taken seven times more train trips than Mr Carlaw and uses the train as his main mode of transport between his home in Glasgow and the Parliament in Edinburgh.

He doesn’t claim as an MSP as it is recorded in his ministerial accounts.

Between May and November Mr Yousaf took 34 train trips, 28 between Glasgow and Edinburgh stations.

On the other hand, Mr Carlaw only took five trips between the cities claiming £68 in expenses.

His claims for motor mileage however totalled £878, including 21 trips between his home and the Parliament.

The cost of a return train trip for Mr Carlaw was £27.20 while the motor mileage works out at £46.80

The Conservative MSP sought to pile more pressure on Mr Yousaf by claiming he ignored the train service.

Mr Carlaw said: “When Humza Yousaf said he wasn’t a transport expert, we didn’t think this meant he’d never set foot on a train.

“It’s all very well posing prettily while hanging off the side of a train to get himself through a news cycle.

“But the public want a transport minister who actually knows what it’s like to use Scotland’s railways.“Commuters will be furious that the train network is deemed good enough for them, but not seemingly good enough for the man in charge.”

An SNP spokesman said: “The Tories are on the wrong track with this ridiculous claim.

“Humza takes the train most weeks to commute between Glasgow and Edinburgh in his ministerial role and it would be wrong for him to bill his parliamentary expenses for ministerial travel.

“In contrast Jackson Carlaw has taken only 5 train journeys since May, far less than Mr Yousaf took in his first two months as Transport Minister.”

“The Tories efforts to personally attack the transport minister instead of contributing to improving our train service have well and truly hit the buffers. While Humza and the SNP are working on delivering the best possible train service for Scotland, the Tories are running England’s rail services into the ground.”