We need regional transport integration not special bargain schemes

Or more precisely, many folk will never miss cheaper peak rail fares, till that concession is axed by the Scottish Government.

Scottish Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop has had nothing pelters since her announcement that the extended pilot scheme to attract more motorists onto trains will end in September.

It seems the 6.8% increase in passenger numbers recorded during the pilot period would need to be 10% for the policy to wash its face; existing travellers used the railways more and new train passengers – drivers and folk on lower incomes – stayed away.

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That seems surprising. There was quite a saving on some routes – an Edinburgh to Glasgow return nearly halved in price from £28.90 to £14.90 but in September, the fare will bump back up to £31.40.

So, what went wrong – why didn’t more travellers quit cars and use trains for their rush hour commute?

We should find out.

Maybe more Scots are working from home or able to avoid the morning peak.

Certainly, passengers complained that Scotrail put on fewer, shorter trains during the pilot which meant some didn’t stop at intermediate stations leaving commuters stranded. And others were crammed in like sardines.

That only needs to happen once – or be heard of once – before folk don’t try the train again, whatever price the fares.

Some critics say the £40 million poured into the project would’ve been better spent advertising existing concessions. Others say such an innovation needed more time and publicity to prove itself. And the peak time reductions only brought the highest-priced rail journeys in Europe down to something resembling normal.

(Image: Colin Mearns)

But coming hot on the heels of the baffling and shameful decision not to roll out free bus travel for asylum seekers earlier this week and the glacially slow progress to support Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT) in its bid to bring buses back under public control in the west of Scotland – one might well ask what’s going on.

It looks as if good ideas to boost public transport use are proposed by the Scottish Government, then withdrawn when the going gets rough.

Now, I’ll grant you, Rachel Reeves’s budget cuts look set to be very rough indeed.

But is there a Big Scottish Transport Plan that can be explained in words of one syllable prompting a few “wows” from the travelling public? Fair-minded Scots can handle one failed pilot if there’s a better strategic plan – and someone takes the time to explain it.

Is there?

Because chopping and changing – promising then cancelling – rolling out and then rolling back is a bad look, encouraging Scotland’s permanent chorus of naysayers to chalk this up as another example of Scottish Government incompetence and SNP bad.

Is it? Probably not. But that doesn’t let the Scottish Government off the hook.

It’s clear that money’s too tight to mention. But it’s also clear that one-off initiatives for six months, one year or even two will not be enough to change the travelling habits of a lifetime. We need something bigger, harder to achieve and far, far less eye-catching – coordination between all transport types – bus, train, underground, tram and bike – and between all places – rural, suburban as well as urban.

We need regional transport integration, not special bargain one-offs. Make a headline out of that, if you can.

Good buses, for example, are pretty vital for rail use. Unless you’re within walking distance of a station, you need a bus to get there and back. I’ve very rarely caught the train from Dundee, despite that station being closer to North Fife than Perth because buses back across the Tay Road Bridge to North Fife are few and far between after 6pm. After a long day, I don’t fancy a one-hour wait. So, an irregular bus service means an irregular use of the train.

(Image: Phil Mahoney-Berg)

Parking is another problem. Anyone using the excellent Inverkeithing station to hop o’er from Fife to Edinburgh must live locally or travel before about 7.30am. After that the free station car park is full. It’s the same story across Scotland.

By contrast, the Park and Rides at Ferrytoll and Halbeath – ingeniously purchased and developed by Fife Council and Stagecoach in the 90s – make the modal switch from car to bus much easier. I’ve never arrived to find the car park or accompanying multi-storey for one thousand cars full up. So, rail fares at nearby Inverkeithing might be zero – I still wouldn’t be able to take the train.

And then, there’s the Scottish Government’s generous programme of bus concessions – the most generous free travel in the UK, with more than two million Scots eligible including young people between 5 and 22 – a Scottish Green proposal during the Bute House Agreement so successful that 732,000 young folk have taken out travel cards and made a whopping 137m free bus journeys since the scheme began in 2022. That’s a great way to engrain the public transport habit early in a person’s life. And of course, over 60s can travel free as well.

All of which suggests the future might be bus not train. But there are snags.

For starters, travellers on low incomes must fork out for bus tickets while relatively well-heeled “oldies” – like myself – travel free.

That’s why the Scottish Socialists proposed universal free bus travel 25 years ago and were laughed out of court by the chattering classes. Yet, they were absolutely right – then and now.

Other small countries have already moved on this idea – as SNP Glasgow councillor Roza Salih (below) wrote recently: “Estonia and Luxembourg have embraced country-wide free public transport, while Montpellier in France has introduced the same. Zurich’s world-class system, enshrined in law for its citizens, runs seamlessly from 6am to midnight, with services every 15 minutes.

(Image: Colin Mearns)

“Cities like Munich, Vienna, Oslo, and Stockholm boast integrated public transport systems that outshine Glasgow.

“Even in England, London’s Oyster card and Greater Manchester’s Bee network showcase successful integration models and lower fares.”

She’s right – but without independence, universal free bus travel isn’t going to happen.

Impending budget cuts from Westminster are already blamed for kiboshing the peak fare rail pilot.

But there’s something the Scottish Government can do. Right now.

Produce the legal guidance that would let SPT bring west of Scotland bus travel back under public control. Holyrood legislation has been in place since December that lets regional authorities take charge of fares, routes and subsidies. And this is THE best way to get more folk on public transport.

Yip, it doesn’t sound exciting.

If you’re old enough to remember 1986 – before Thatcher’s disastrous bus deregulation – it’s just back to the future.

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But for everyone else it would be some novelty – the beauty of “one controlling mind’ able to decide that popular bus routes cross-subsidise essential but loss-making ones. Y’know – tangible evidence there IS such a thing as society.

That obvious change is inching its way closer – especially in the west of Scotland. But to make it stick, the SPT must bring 12 local councils on board. Ditto bus operators, currently making huge profits from the subsidised but de-regulated wild west. SPT are undertaking mega consultation now, before deciding if they can go for gold – my opinion not their public stance –take control of all bus routes, through franchise agreements later this year. Even then, it’ll be a long process. SPT suggest five to seven years for the kind of integrated, publicly controlled bus system currently operating in Andy Burnham’s Manchester. But Scottish Government guidance on operating the franchising system could speed that up.

So, let’s have it asap.

Of course, backing publicly controlled bus systems ain’t cheap or as sexy as temporarily lowering rail fares. But clearly, quick transport fixes aren’t perfect either.