Meeting of the Parliament 06 June 2024
I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate, and I congratulate Mark Ruskell on securing it. I will keep my contribution brief.
The removal of the peak rail fare has undoubtedly benefited people in many parts of Scotland, enabling them to travel by train more affordably. It has also had benefits for emissions reduction and action against climate change.
The removal of peak rail fares has also built on the Scottish National Party Government’s commitment to making public transport more accessible and reliable, and it has encouraged people to switch away from cars to cleaner, greener public transport. From expanding free bus travel to under 22s to putting money straight back into people’s pockets with reduced rail fares, the SNP is helping people where it matters. Every pound saved can help to mitigate the impact of the Tory-inflicted cost of living crisis.
Although the off-peak rail fare is welcome, it does not benefit many of my constituents across South Scotland. For example, at present, there are no ScotRail services from Lockerbie to either Glasgow or Edinburgh. The west coast main line is serviced by TransPennine Express and, on occasion, Avanti West Coast. There are no rail services from Stranraer to Ayr at all at the moment, and the replacement bus service takes substantially more time to get to Ayr than the rail service did.
The reason why the rail service has not been working for the past eight months is the derelict Ayr station hotel. Although that is not the responsibility of the Scottish Government but that of South Ayrshire Council, it is another example of how my constituents from Stranraer, Wigtownshire and East Ayrshire are not benefiting from the removal of the peak rail fare offer that the Scottish Government introduced.
Another example of how South Scotland is disadvantaged in relation to the peak rail fare cut is the Scottish Government’s recent investment of £20 million in Reston railway station, which I visited just last week. It is an amazing, welcome, fantastic and accessible asset for people living in Reston and the surrounding areas of the Scottish Borders. However, there are no ScotRail services on the line; the station is serviced by TransPennine Express, Avanti West Coast, the London North Eastern Railway and Lumo, and none of those operators offers non-peak rail fares at any time of day, which means that people across the south are missing out.
The parts of Dumfries and Galloway that see the benefit are those on the Gretna to Glasgow line, but many constituents choose not to use the service, because it is much quicker to take the TransPennine Express from Lockerbie to Edinburgh, which takes 58 minutes as opposed to the two hours that it takes to travel from Dumfries to Glasgow.
I have lobbied successive transport ministers for improvements to the line, such as the reduction of journey times and electrification. The second strategic transport projects review—STPR2—made recommendations for the line to be improved. I have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport to request an update on the intended timescales.
I welcome the extension of the peak rail fare cut. However, I ask the cabinet secretary to consider the issues that I have raised about how many communities across South Scotland might not benefit from that excellent pilot scheme. I ask whether she could explore whether transport officials and ScotRail could look to enter reciprocal commercial agreements with other operators, which would mean that constituents on the Scottish stations that do not have ScotRail services could also benefit from non-peak fares at all times during the pilot scheme period.
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