Last night it was claimed that National Rail Services (NATS) ministers had undermined their own cheap rail ticket scheme by making drastic cuts to the service on offer.
ScotRail customers face hefty fare increases next month after the Scottish Government ended a trial which saw peak hour tickets reduced to off-peak prices.
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop last week blamed the fact that the £40 million pilot project had only led to a “limited increase in passenger numbers”.
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But last night the Scottish Labour Party said passengers were discouraged because Scottish state-owned rail company ScotRail will run around 250 fewer trains per day in 2024 compared to pre-pandemic times.
This has been made worse by the introduction of the provisional timetable, which means there are now over 530 fewer connections per day compared to 2019, Scottish Labour said.
Critics estimate that nearly 5,774 trains were cancelled between April and July.
Alex Rowley, Scottish Labour transport spokesman, said:
“The peak fares pilot scheme has boosted passenger numbers, despite being undermined at every turn by the SNP’s service cuts and lack of promotion.
“The SNP’s neglect of our railways is economic and environmental vandalism and their decision to increase fares is an attack on workers.”
On September 27, some peak-time fares will rise by more than 200 percent.
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Graham Simpson, the Scottish Tories’ shadow transport minister, said: “This horrendous number of train cancellations exposes the failure of the SNP since it took control of Scotland’s railways.”
Ms Hyslop said last week that the low-fare pilot scheme had “primarily benefited existing rail passengers”.
Passenger numbers had “increased to a maximum of around 6.8 percent,” she said. However, to make the peak discount profitable, an increase of ten percent would have been necessary.
Labour said there were an average of 2,195 daily services in 2019, compared with 1,939 in the first quarter of 2024. The temporary timetable triggered by an industrial dispute earlier this year called for 1,660 services per day.
The reintroduction of peak-time fares after September 27 means ticket prices will soar – including a peak-time return journey which will almost double on the Glasgow-Edinburgh route, from £16.20 to £31.40.
Among other things, commuters travelling from Dumfries to Carlisle who wish to arrive at 9am will see their return ticket price on ScotRail triple from £7.60 to £23.60 – an increase of 211 per cent.
Transport Scotland said: “While the peak fare abolition pilot scheme has been a welcome incentive over the past 12 months, it is simply not sustainable in the long term.
“The Scottish Government would be willing to consider future subsidies to eliminate peak tariffs should UK budget allocations to the Scottish Government improve in the coming years.”
