Peak
fares


will
be
abolished
on
ScotRail
in
September,
after
a
previous
trial
ended
last
September
on
the
grounds
that
it
had
not
attracted
enough
extra
passengers
to
balance
the
books.

At
the
time,
Transport
secretary
Fiona
Hyslop
said:
‘The
pilot
primarily
benefited
existing
train
passengers
and
those
with
medium
to
higher
incomes.
Although
passenger
levels
increased
to
a
maximum
of
around
6.8
per
cent,
it
would
require
a
10
per
cent
increase
in
passenger
numbers
for
the
policy
to
be
self-financing.’

But
peak
fares
will
now
be
scrapped
permanently.

First
Minister
John
Swinney
told
MSPs:
‘Last
year,
in
the
face
of
severe
budget
pressures,
we
took
the
difficult
decision
to
end
the
peak
fares
pilot
on
our
railways.

‘But
now,
given
the
work
we
have
done
to
get
Scotland’s
finances
in
a
stronger
position,
and
hearing
also
the
calls
from
commuters,
from
climate
activists
and
from
the
business
community,
I
can
confirm
that,
from
1
September
this
year,
peak
rail
fares
in
Scotland
will
be
scrapped
for
good.

‘A
decision
that
will
put
more
money
in
people’s
pockets
and
mean
less
CO2
is
pumped
into
our
skies.’

The
Scottish
Greens
had
criticised
the
decision
to
end
the
pilot
last
year,
and
the
party
has
welcomed
the
Scottish
Government’s
change
of
heart.

Scottish
Greens
co-leader
Lorna
Slater
said:
‘Earlier
this
year,
they
said
they
wouldn’t
do
it.
They
even
voted
against
Green
calls
to
do
it.
We’ve
finally
got
there.’

The
decision
has
also
been
applauded
by
rail
unions.
ASLEF’s
Scottish
organiser
Kevin
Lindsay
said:
‘Ending
peak-time
fares
removes
a
tax
on
people
commuting
to
work,
making
rail
travel
genuinely
affordable
for
many
more
people
across
Scotland,’
while
the
RMT
described
the
decision
as
‘right’.

The
campaigning
group
Transform
Scotland
said
it
had
been
‘perverse
for
rail
passengers
to
be
penalised’
with
peak
fares.

Mr
Swinney
has
also
reversed
the
policy
of
banning
the
visible
carriage
of
alcohol
on
ScotRail
trains.
The
ban
was
introduced
in
November
2020,
and
it
meant
that
alcohol
had
to
be
kept
out
of
sight
in
a
bag
and
not
consumed
on
railway
property,
because
of
anti-social
behaviour
which
had
included
intoxicated
passengers
ignoring
Covid
rules
about
‘physical
distancing’.

The
First
Minister
said
the
‘counterproductive
and
ineffective’
ban
would
be
lifted
and
replaced
by
‘new
regulations
that
focus
restrictions
more
effectively
on
particular
times
and
locations’.

Work
is
under
way
on
drafting
a
‘behaviour
code’,
which
could
include
the
withdrawal
of
concessionary
travel
passes
as
a
deterrent.

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