Rail fares to go up by nearly 4% across Scotland

Rail fares on routes across Scotland are set to increase by 3.8% next year.

Peak, off-peak and all season tickets will all see the biggest hike in nearly a decade.

The price increase has been criticised by unions amid soaring inflation rates.

But the Scottish government said it had put in £450m of emergency funding to the rail franchises since the pandemic started and this level of funding was "not sustainable in the longer term".

The amount of the rail fare increases is determined by the level of the Retail Price Index (RPI) in July - but while in previous years the cost of off-peak tickets has gone up by a lower amount, this time the increase is across the board.

The announcement means price of a season ticket between Glasgow and Edinburgh will go up by £162 to £4,430.

It will be the steepest increase since January 2013, according to figures from industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).

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Transport Minister Graeme Dey, said: "For over a decade the Scottish government has kept fares increases down by ensuring they are in line with RPI, or even lower in the case of off-peak fares. Scottish rail fares remain, on average, 20% lower than across the rest of Great Britain.

"We know that any increase is unwelcome for passengers, however, the changes we are implementing this year are essential to our wider recovery plans.

"We challenged ScotRail to develop robust plans to increase revenue, while also seeking to identify efficiency savings that help put rail services on a sustainable footing. It is only right we implement proposals, such as this increase, where they make sense given the changes in passenger travel patterns."

The price increases will come into force two months before Scotland's train services are to go into public operation.

Dutch firm Abellio will stop running the ScotRail franchise at the end of March next year.

After this an "arms-length" Scottish government company will take over the running of services.

After seeing passenger numbers haemorrhage during the pandemic, ScotRail put out its "Fit for the Future" document setting out proposals for public transport.

It included plans to cut 300 rail services per day from its timetable in line with new travel patterns and overcapacity on some routes.

'Stealth tax on working people'

Kevin Lindsay, Scotland organiser for train driver union Aslef, said: "Just at the time when we should be getting Scotland back on track, the Scottish government has confirmed it will increase rail fares.

"Scotland cannot meet its environmental obligations without a world-class rail service that shifts people and goods from cars and lorries onto trains.

"If the Scottish government are serious about tackling the climate crisis and supporting our economy they will halt these planned fare hikes in their tracks and end peak fares which only act as a stealth tax on working people."

Scottish Labour's transport spokesman, Neil Bibby, claimed it was "wildly reckless to hit passengers with this brutal rip-off fare rise while a cost-of-living crisis rages on".