Scotland’s trains are ‘erratic and expensive’ under the SNP

Scottish Liberal Democrats have highlighted their plans to make Scotland’s rail services cheap, reliable and frequent as the SNP bring back peak fares today (Monday 30th September), with passengers now being hit by higher ticket prices and a reduced timetable.

In August, the SNP government announced that it would reintroduce peak rail fares, meaning that the price of the top ticket between Glasgow and Edinburgh has now risen by 8.6% to £31.40.

This hike comes as ScotRail continue to operate a temporary timetable with far fewer trains available. In total, about 600 services were slashed from the ScotRail timetable, with only around 50% of services running on Sundays.

Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson Daniel O’Malley said:

“For more than two years, SNP ministers have been responsible for the railways. In that time, they have produced a service that is as erratic as it is expensive.

“This SNP government are completely out of touch. Even when Parliament voted for the government to reverse their decision to hike fares, the SNP simply chose to ignore it.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats want a reliable rail service which everyone can afford to travel on. It’s a win-win that would bring down costs and help tackle the climate crisis.

“That’s why my party would cut fares, roll out flexible two/ three-day a week season tickets and explore new lines in areas which suffer from poor public transport links.”