I have questioned the decision to raise train fares by almost 9% as ScotRail published accounts for year to March 2023 show a 42% increase in revenue and a 36% increase in journeys from the year before.
The published accounts, the first for the new public sector operator, show passenger revenue of £265million over 64 million journeys and a decrease of 5% in the subsidy provided by the Scottish Government, totalling £691million.
Transport Scotland, the national transport agency of Scotland, confirmed last month that train fares will increase by 8.7% in April, just weeks before the peak fares removal pilot will end in June.
I am concerned at the Scottish Government’s confused and contradictory approach to public transport at the moment when it has never been more important that people across Scotland have access to affordable and viable public transport options.
We need to encourage people out of cars and on to public transport to meet our climate goals and we are facing the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.
I absolutely welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to pilot the trade union proposed peak fare suspension but the decision to hike fares by an eyewatering 8.7% seems to be directly opposed to the principles the Scottish Government’s acceptance of this pilot appeared to suggest.
It is particularly difficult to swallow this increase, which will hit Scots hard during a cost-of-living crisis, when compared against the expected increase of 4.9% in England.
All of this against the background of ScotRail experiencing a huge increase in revenue and journeys on the year before – exactly what we would want to see.
So, the decision to raise fares, which will only serve to deter more people from taking the train again, makes even less sense.
If we are to encourage people to continue using rail for their daily commutes, the Scottish Government must commit to the permanent ending of peak fares, which only serve as a tax on workers opting for greener travel options, and to ensuring that all transport policy decisions work towards making public transport accessible, viable, and affordable.
