ScotRail ticket price hike "bleak news" for travellers
The 4.8% rise is set to come into place from 3 July
Last updated 29th Jan 2024
ScotRail prices are set to rise today by almost 5%, despite condemnation from several parties.
The 4.8% hike has been branded as “bleak news” for travellers given the ongoing cost of living crisis.
The increase comes just fifteen months after ScotRail was taken into public ownership, but will not apply to season and flexi tickets, in a bid to make sure the most frequent travellers are not impacted.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton insisted the cost of travelling by train should remain frozen "until at least the end of the year".
The Lib Dems are calling for solutions
He added: "The SNP/Green Government's response to the cost-of-living crisis has been abject and they have just missed the all-important climate targets yet again.
"Control of rail fares is within their hands, yet rail users are seeing price increases."
He continued: "Now that ScotRail is in public hands, we need long-term ticketing solutions to encourage people to rely on rail travel, backed by trains that run on time."
Speaking last month when the rise was announced, Transport Secretary Mairi McAllan said while the Government had frozen fares as part of its response to the cost-of-living crisis, it was "simply no longer sustainable" to do so.
She added: This below-inflation increase means fares remain, on average, lower than across the rest of Great Britain.”
Fares in the rest of the UK are being raised by 5.9%
Scottish Conservative transport spokesperson Graham Simpson said: "This steep fares rise is a bitter pill for hard-pressed commuters to swallow, particularly in the middle of a global cost-of-living crisis."
The Tory added that the price hike was also "entirely at odds with the SNP-Greens' stated mission to get people out of their cars and on to public transport instead".
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: "We know that any increase is unwelcome for passengers, therefore we have kept the rise as low as possible to maintain the attractiveness and affordability of rail as a travel option."
The continued: "Work continues to deliver a ScotRail peak fares removal pilot from October this year, alongside wider work on our Fair Fares review."