Call to cut peak rail fares

PEAK time fares on ScotRail services should be scrapped as they are a “tax on workers”, a leading transport union has claimed.

Passengers travelling before 9.30am on weekdays still face steep prices despite the rise of working at home upending the traditional rush hour commute.

ASLEF, which represents train drivers across the country, is now calling on Finance Secretary Kate Forbes to offer greater incentives to Scots to ditch their cars in favour of public transport.

Kevin Lindsay, ASLEF’s Scottish organiser, told the Record: “This Budget comes hot on the heels of COP26 and is the first big test of how committed the Scottish Government is to meeting its climate targets.”

The union is calling on the Scottish Government to:

● Freeze ticket prices and abolish peak fares.

● Introduce free travel for pensioners and under-24s.

● End the threatened cuts with a drive to get passenger numbers back to pre-pandemic levels.

● Invest in freight by increasing the capacity of current hubs, twin tracking the line north of Perth and building new capacity across the country.