Rail unions in Scotland have partnered with environmental groups to demand that peak train fares be permanently abolished. The call comes after a pilot scheme run by ScotRail since October which introduced the policy of charging the same fares at all times of day. The scheme was due to be phased out in the spring, but the Scottish government has extended it until June 28 in order to gather more data. Transport Scotland said that it would consider the pilot’s impact on the state-owned rail operator.
The STUC, Aslef, the TSSA, the RMT, Unite, Friends of the Earth Scotland and other climate groups have all written to Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop, arguing that peak rail fares represent an “unfair tax on workers”. The letter stated that “the overall approach by the Government must be to make fares as affordable as possible… What will encourage and incentivise the Scottish travelling public on to trains and away from private car travel”. The group claimed that scrapping peak fares would both benefit the climate and help the economy.
The letter added that a decision to restore peak fares would be “a retrograde step that would send exactly the wrong message at the wrong time.” Rail unions and environmental groups called on the Scottish government to “do the right thing, scrap peak fares permanently to help Scotland meet its climate targets, grow the economy sustainably and help workers by ending this unfair tax on them.”
Transport Scotland indicated that extending the pilot scheme would permit more data to be collected on how the abolition of peak fare charges impacted travel patterns, which would “help to inform the final evaluation.” The Scottish Government will weigh the long-term sustainability of the scheme, and its fit with the goal of reducing carbon emissions and boosting sustainable travel
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