A £40 MILLION trial to reduce rail fares has been scrapped after it was found to have failed to get enough people to take the train.
Peak fares will return in full from September 27.
It would have had to boost passenger numbers by 10% to have been self-financing but it only increased numbers by around 6.8%.
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop (below) said that analysis showed the pilot “primarily benefitted existing train passengers and those with medium to higher incomes”.
She added: “The pilot will have been welcome in saving many passengers hundreds and in some cases thousands of pounds during the cost of living crisis but this level of subsidy cannot continue in the current financial climate on that measure alone.
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“I am aware, however, that a significant minority of people who cannot choose when they travel to and from work did and would benefit from lower priced rail travel – these are people who might find the return to peak fares challenging.
“I can therefore announce the introduction of a 12-month discount on all ScotRail season tickets and permanently amending the terms of flexipasses to allow for 12 single journeys for the price of 10, used within 60 days, equivalent to a 20% discount for those who travel less frequently.”
ScotRail will also reintroduce super off-peak tickets.
The change means that from September 27, it will cost £31.40 for an anytime return ticket from Glasgow to Edinburgh, up from £28.90 before the pilot.
An anytime return between Barrhead and Glasgow will cost £7.20, up from £6.60.
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The scheme was a key plank of the now-binned Bute House Agreement which saw the SNP bring the Scottish Greens into government for the first time.
The party have described the move as “a hammer blow” to commuters and argued that making the scheme permanent would have encouraged more people to take the train.
Transport spokesperson for the Scottish Greens Mark Ruskell (above) said: “A lot of workers and their families saved hundreds of pounds. Behavioural change doesn’t happen overnight and by making the move permanent we could have encouraged more people to change the way they travel.”
He said the move also “derails our climate efforts,” adding: “Transport is the biggest source of carbon emissions in Scotland. There is no way for us to tackle the climate crisis without drastically and urgently reducing the numbers of cars on our roads.”
The Scottish Trades Union Congress slammed the move calling it a “short-sighted, regressive decision from the Scottish Government which makes a mockery of their sustainable travel and net-zero targets”.
Deputy general secretary of the trade union body Linda Somerville said: “Peak fares are a stealth tax on workers which is bad for the climate, bad for our communities and bad for people’s wallets. Fares have increased an eye-watering 9% during the trial alone with commuters now facing a double whammy of increased and peak fares next time they board.
“The Scottish Government’s own analysis shows that more people were choosing to travel by train, including those from lower incomes. It’s inexplicable they would go against their own evidence which shows the trial to be successful. It will take more than a one-year pilot to make up for decades of rail fares outpacing the cost of motoring.”
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