Rail unions and environmental groups call for peak rail fares in Scotland to be scrapped permanently
|
Scotland’s four rail unions and the STUC have joined forces with
some of Scotland’s main environmental groups as well the
sustainable transport organisation, Transform Scotland, to call on
the Scottish Government for the current pilot, which has seen peak
rail fares scrapped since October 2023, to be made permanent. The
call, made in a letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport,
comes a day before (19th March) the Scottish Parliament Net Zero,
Energy and Transport...Request free
trial
Scotland’s four rail unions and the STUC have joined forces with some of Scotland’s main environmental groups as well the sustainable transport organisation, Transform Scotland, to call on the Scottish Government for the current pilot, which has seen peak rail fares scrapped since October 2023, to be made permanent. The call, made in a letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, comes a day before (19th March) the Scottish Parliament Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee meets to discuss Scotland's Railways since public ownership. The letter to Fiona Hyslop, and signed by ASLEF, the RMT, Unite, TSSA, STUC, Stop Climate Chaos, Transform Scotland, Friends of the Earth Scotland and the Just Transition Partnership was unequivocal that peak fares are a tax on workers and that reducing fares is critical if Scotland is to encourage more people onto trains and help Scotland meet its climate targets. The call comes amidst uncertainty about the future of peak rail fares after the pilot ends on the 28th June. As yet, the Scottish Government and ScotRail have not committed to extending the scheme and there is concern that the Scottish Government may decide to restore peak fares. Jim Baxter, ASLEF Executive Council Member for Scotland, said: “In our Vision for Scotland’s Railways the rail unions made clear that ending this additional tax on workers is critical to shift people from road to rail and help Scotland meet its own targets to reduce road travel and meet our climate change targets, as well as helping to address inequality by putting more money in people’s pockets.”
“We were delighted when the Government listened to us and introduced a pilot to scrap peak fares. This has helped rail passengers and also helped increase the numbers of people using our trains after the shock the rail industry suffered because of the covid pandemic.”
“Ending the pilot and restoring peak fares would be a retrograde step of historic proportions and send the wrong signal at exactly the wrong time. We implore the Scottish Government and do the right thing and scrap peak fares permanently.”
Mike Robinson, Chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland also said:
"Our transport system generates more harmful emissions than any other sector, and there has been very little progress to reduce this in recent years. If we are serious about tackling the climate crisis, along with reducing inequality and improving health and wellbeing, it's a no-brainer that using public transport should be cheaper than driving. But over recent decades, public transport fares have risen, while car use has become cheaper in real terms.
We warmly welcomed the pilot scheme to remove peak train fares, which signalled a positive step towards rebalancing costs in favour of public transport. Reverting to expensive tickets would be a hugely retrograde decision, and be bad news for workers, passengers and the climate." Ends.
Notes to Editors - Letter sent to Transport Minister, Fiona Hyslop
Cabinet Secretary for Transport 15th March 2024 Dear Cabinet Secretary for Transport We are writing to you as the peak train fares pilot draws to a close in June. We pay tribute to the introduction of the pilot in the first place. As trade unionists, environmental campaigners and passenger champions we are clear however that peak train fares must be scrapped permanently. This is a position that we have taken since the start of the pilot. The overall approach by the government must be to make fares as affordable as possible. This is what will encourage and incentivise the Scottish travelling public onto trains and away from private car travel. Let us also be clear, peak fares are another unfair tax on workers. They make trains expensive and are an impediment to rail travel for many. If you were to restore peak fares it would send a strongly negative signal to the Scottish public that Scotland is not serious about tackling climate change. Your own national transport strategy has committed to reducing car kilometres by 20% by 2030. You recognise just as we do that given transport is the biggest emitter of carbon emissions and that road travel is by some distance the mode of travel that emits the most climate/carbon pollution. Set against this context it is imperative to shift mindsets and behaviours when it comes to modes of travel. This must mean making rail fares cheaper and more affordable overall and it must mean scrapping peak fares permanently. Making fares more affordable will help people in poverty and help the wider economy. Individuals who benefit will have more money in their pockets to spend. And, as you acknowledged in your answer to Alex Rowley MSP on 8th February in the Scottish Parliament this saving is significant for rail travellers. You said then: “Those who travel the line from Cowdenbeath to Edinburgh three times a week, from October at the start of the pilot to June at its end, will have saved £680; those who travel five times a week will have saved £1,134. There have been savings for many workers in Cowdenbeath, in Fife and across Scotland” As well as the net gain for individuals using trains, the benefit to the economy is considerable. As the Railway Industry Association research evidenced in 2021, for every £1 spent on rail travel £2.50 is generated in the wider economy. Scotland must play its part in tackling climate change, as your government acknowledges. Your Government also has a duty to help grow the economy and protect the citizens of this country when it is able. Scrapping peak fares, for whatever the limited initial costs are, is a clear step in the right direction on all those fronts. If you were to restore peak fares it would be a retrograde step that would send exactly the wrong message at the wrong time. We urge you 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. Yours Sincerely Kevin Lindsay ASLEF, Gary Kelly TSSA, Michael Hogg RMT, Pat Mcllvogue UNITE, Dave Moxham Assistant General Secretary STUC, Imogen Dow, Friends of the Earth Scotland head of campaigns, Matthew Crighton Secretary Just Transition Partnership, Mike Robinson, Chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and Colin Howden, Director Transform Scotland |