Meeting of the Parliament 26 February 2025
The Government agrees that we must make public transport accessible, affordable and reliable in order to encourage more people to travel by bus and train.
The off-peak all-day trial was bold and pioneering. It was possible only due to this Government’s having brought ScotRail under public sector control and it was definitely worth trying. However, the pilot did not achieve its original aim of encouraging more people to travel by train. The analysis shows that there was only a limited increase in passenger numbers—6.8 per cent—during the pilot. Consequently, insufficient levels of income were generated to justify continuing the pilot, which mostly benefited existing passengers who have above-average incomes. Similarly, the recent fare reduction trial by Transport for London did not see passenger numbers increasing.
Only yesterday, Ross Greer warned in the budget debate that politics should not be a
“bit of a game”
in which
“we are all just here to get one up on one another”.—[Official Report, 25 February 2025; c45.]
However, the Green Party’s motion does exactly what he warned against. On day 1, they support the budget; on day 2, they want to drive a coach and horses through the transport resource budget and blow a £51 million hole in it.
A rail fare freeze, which the Greens did not ask for during budget negotiations, would leave us having to find an additional £11 million.