Campaigners welcome end to peak rail pricing

Environmental campaigners have welcomed the news that peak pricing will be removed on all Scotrail trains. The news was announced today (15 December) in the Scottish Government’s budget.

The change will take place for a pilot period of six months as part of the fair fares review as a way of making rail travel more affordable and attractive to travellers.

Gavin Thomson, transport campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said:

“It’s great news that peak pricing is being removed to help more people to take journeys by train rather than by car. Peak fairs are currently much more expensive than regular fairs and stop people from being able to make this choice, so it’s a step in the right direction.

“The move demonstrates how public ownership can keep fares from getting even higher, benefitting passengers and helping support the necessary shift away from cars. Transport is Scotland’s biggest source of climate emissions, so we need an affordable, accessible, high-quality public transport network to make it possible for people to get around without cars.

“We need to start thinking of public transport as an essential service, like education or health. It should be available to everyone and free at the point of use.”

Other transport commitments from the budget:

• £60 million investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure
• Expenditure of £1.4 billion to maintain, operate and decarbonise our rail infrastructure
• Invest nearly £200 million in active and sustainable travel