Hansard

I thank Bob Doris for securing the debate. The removal of peak fares from Scotland’s railways on 1 September is very much welcomed. In the rail debate next week, there will be an opportunity to discuss that policy, along with others, in our consideration of the future of Scotland’s railways. I welcome the fact that Bob Doris took time this afternoon to highlight some of those other issues.

At the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26—in Glasgow, the rail trade unions launched a vision for Scotland’s railways, recognising the significance of COP taking place in Scotland. That was a welcome document that firmly placed the future of Scotland’s railways as part of the way in which we can tackle climate change and meet our ambitious environment targets. It included the removal of peak fares, which it argued were a tax on workers and a disincentive to using the train.

This week, ASLEF welcomed the decision on peak fares, saying:

“So while today is a victory and good news for passengers, more could and should be done to cut fares further and ensure Scotland’s rail services are as affordable and accessible as possible. We urge the Scottish government to keep on working to this end.”

Although today is an opportunity to highlight the change in fares, next week’s debate may be the time to consider what more could and should be done to make rail more affordable and inclusive. Scotland and the UK have some of the highest fares in Europe, and reductions such as reducing a peak-time return from Kirkcaldy to Edinburgh from £19.60 to £12.60—a saving of £7 per journey—are to be welcomed. There is also an additional benefit for Fife travellers, as the peak fares applied over a longer period and did not just cover the morning rush hour but restricted travel in the evenings for almost two hours, which made a cheap day return less attractive.

The minister will have also heard me say that, in terms of price per mile, Fifers pay some of the highest fares, and that discrepancy will still remain. I appreciate that that is not always the best way to measure costs, but the fair fares review was designed to address some of those anomalies, and we need to see more progress on that.

It is fair to say that some of us might have been surprised when the Government announced the scrapping of peak fares. The pilot, which ran from October 2023 to September 2024, was deemed by Transport Scotland to not have been successful, and the Cabinet Secretary for Transport has previously defended in the chamber the decision to scrap the pilot. She recently said:

“Was modal shift part of the original intention of the pilot? Yes. Did the pilot achieve the shift that we wanted or desired? Unfortunately, and regrettably, no.”—[Official Report, Public Audit Committee, 23 April 2025; c 10.]

The cabinet secretary also said:

“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.”—[Official Report, 26 February 2025; c 51.]

Some of us will be familiar with the argument that the pilot was flawed. It was not initially advertised or promoted, and it took place during industrial action, at a time when there was a reduced timetable and we were still in a post-pandemic period, when patronage of public transport was going through a transition.

The cabinet secretary also argued, just at the end of February, that

“the trial had limited success, and Parliament simply cannot and should not overturn a carefully crafted and agreed budget for transport this coming year, the day after agreeing to it.”—[Official Report, 26 February 2025; c 69.]

The plans were, therefore, not in the budget that Parliament passed in February. However, within a matter of months—coincidentally, before a crucial Scottish Parliament by-election—the First Minister announced a change of heart.

Next week will provide more time to consider the detail of the policy, but I will finish with one more quote from the cabinet secretary. She said:

“The Scottish Government would be open to consider future subsidy to remove peak fares should UK budget allocations to the Scottish Government improve in future years.”

Therefore, maybe it is the UK Government that we have to thank for the First Minister’s change of track.