Union wants peak rail fares scrapped

THE Scottish Government is being urged to scrap peak rail fares and offer free travel to people over 60 and under 24.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney has been urged to reform rail fares in this week’s Scottish budget.

In a letter to Mr Swinney and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the train drivers union Aslef said reforming rail fares would contribute to meeting net-zero targets and help Scots during the cost of living crisis. A peak return fare on a ScotRail train between Glasgow and Edinburgh is £27.60, while an off-peak return costs just £14.20.

In his letter, Aslef Scottish organiser Kevin Lindsay said: ‘By directly intervening in this way, your Government can help the travelling public break from the bad habit of unhealthy and environmentally damaging road travel and get into the good habit of environmentally sustainable rail travel. Moreover, such a policy will hugely help people who are struggling in the face of a very harmful cost of living crisis.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said the Transport Scotland agency is undertaking a Fair Fares Review, looking at the cost and availability of services and the range of discounts and concessionary schemes. ‘We are broadly supportive of a different approach to peak fares and we will consult on this through the review, which we hope Aslef will take part in,’ the spokesman said.

‘One of the main barriers in encouraging people back on to public transport and reducing our emissions is the intransigence of the UK Government over the RMT/Network Rail dispute. We urge them to think again.’