Peak time train travellers up by almost 40% during ScotRail pilot, Labour claims

A scheme which cut rail fares for travellers at peak periods is being ended despite passenger numbers at busy times having “soared” by almost 40%, Labour claimed.

Labour net zero spokesperson Sarah Boyack said the rise had occurred despite the Scottish Government having “sabotaged” the pilot – which has run for a year and saw all passengers pay cheaper, off-peak prices for the train regardless of the time of day they were travelling at.

But from Monday, peak fares will be reinstated at morning and evening rush hours, with commuters either having to pay more to take the train or opt for alternatives.

The end of the trial means that from Monday, an anytime return ticket between Glasgow and Edinburgh will cost £31.40 instead of £16.20.

It comes as Labour said the pilot had increased journeys at peak times by 39% – with 35,009,817 passengers carried between October 2023 and July 2024, compared to 25,250,045 over the period October 2022 to July 2023.

Transport Scotland however insisted Labour’s analysis was “misleading”, adding a “credible assertion” was that passenger numbers rose by just under 7% because of the pilot – and that a 10% increase was needed for the scheme to become self financing.

Similarly First Minister John Swinney has insisted that “not enough difference had been made to the patterns of travel” as a result of the scheme for the Government to continue to fund it during a time when ministers are facing “enormous” financial pressures.

“However much we wish to take forward the peak fares pilot into implementation, we simply don’t have the resources to enable that to be the case for the scale of impact that the pilot identified,” Mr Swinney said.

Ms Boyack criticised the “SNP’s senseless decision to hike rail fares for working people”.

She said the removal of peak time fares was “a rare success story from an SNP government typically mired in chaos and failure”.

But with suggestions that advertising for the pilot was scaled back, while a temporary timetable introduced by ScotRail slashed train services, the Labour MSP went on to claim: “This scheme has been sabotaged by SNP incompetence at every turn, but peak time passenger numbers have still soared.

“It’s clear eye-watering rail fares have forced people off of peak time trains – and now thousands of Scots are at risk of once again being priced out of their daily commute, forced back into cars and stuck in traffic jams.

“The SNP is already ditching its climate targets, and now it is rowing back on measures that would help us get back on track.”

Ms Boyack added: “Scotland deserves affordable, reliable, green rail services – but the SNP appears to have given up on rail and abandoned climate leadership.”

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “The figures provided by Labour provide a misleading view of the way in which passengers numbers have increased, where and when, over the duration of the peak fares removal pilot.

“The claims also fail to acknowledge the extensive marketing that did take place during the trial.

“Our published analysis shows passenger numbers were already increasing, therefore any credible assertion would show that the true figures due to the pilot alone was around a maximum of 6.8%, while it would require a 10% increase for the policy to be self-financing.

“The Scottish Government has already stated it would be open to considering future subsidy to remove peak fares should UK budget allocations improve in future years.”

Published: 28/09/2024 by Radio NewsHub