End of peak fares welcomed

Rail unions welcomed the end of peak fares on ScotRail trains at the beginning of last month, meaning passengers will no longer pay higher prices for travelling at the busiest times of the day.

The move follows sustained union campaigning and means a rail ticket from Edinburgh to Glasgow, for example, will be almost 50% cheaper. And trips between Perth and Dundee will cost less than a third than before.

TSSA rail and travel union general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said the development was “a victory which makes travel significantly cheaper for many passengers” and would “encourage more people out of cars and onto trains — meaning less air pollution, and fewer greenhouse gas emissions”.

The ASLEF train drivers’ union said the decision came after “relentless campaigning” and called it “a victory for rail passengers, the environment, our wider economy and the future wellbeing of Scotland’s rail industry”.

Now unions are urging further action. The TSSA called for a further rollout elsewhere: “what’s good for Scotland is good for the rest of the country”, said Eslamdoust.

And ASLEF said the move “should only be seen as the first step in our efforts to make rail travel more affordable and shift people from road to rail”.

It said the Scottish Government and ScotRail could begin by removing the profit motive when purchasing new trains, by using green bonds and ending “the private finance rip-off”, with the savings used to cut fares by another 25%.