Introduction, background and purpose
Introduction
This paper provides an evaluation of the impact of the removal of peak fares from the ScotRail network. It covers the period from the introduction of the Pilot in October 2023 to the beginning of July 2024. Whilst it does not cover the full year of the extended Pilot, the commitment to make a decision on the future of the policy before it ended means that analysis has to be conducted at this point, due to the time required for changes to be made to rail pricing systems.
Background
Our public transport system is a key enabler for growth and opportunity – providing the vital link between where people live, learn, earn and socialise. Access to affordable and reliable public transport services helps people and communities unlock opportunities to connect to jobs, education, retail, public services, leisure, recreation and social and family networks.
A sustainable and viable public transport system is also vital in achieving our ambitious targets on climate change mitigation. Scotland`s National Transport Strategy (NTS2) sets out a vision that:- “We will have a sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system, helping deliver a healthier, fairer and more prosperous Scotland for communities, businesses and visitors.”
The Scottish Government published the “Fair Fares Review” on 22 March 2024. The Review sets out our aim to ensure the public transport system is more accessible, available, and affordable, with the costs of transport more fairly shared across government, business, and society. It also highlights the challenges facing public transport and presents options on the immediate to short and medium to long-term actions that are available to reform our current transport offering ,to support delivery of a quality, accessible, available and affordable integrated public transport system.
As part of the Fair Fares Review, a pathfinder Pilot was established (the “ScotRail Peak Fares Removal Pilot”) to encourage modal shift from car to rail by reducing the cost of travel at peak times for a period of six months between 2 October 2023 and 29 March 2024. As part of the 2024/25 Scottish Government Budget, this was subsequently extended for a further three months scheduled to end on 28 June 2024 and extended again for a further three months to the end of September 2024 following the appointment of John Swinney as First Minister. This has resulted in the Pilot running for a full twelve months, allowing 9 months of data to be analysed to provide a robust assessment of the impact.
ScotRail has removed the timing restrictions on the off-peak fares and products which they set and control that are currently only valid on off-peak services, so they are valid to travel all-day. No other train operators are participating in the Pilot.
The pattern of fare changes also varies significantly geographically. See Table 1.
| Area | Far North | Aberdeen & NE | Dundee - Stirling | West Highland | Edinburgh | Inner Glasgow | Outer Glasgow | SW Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Far North | -1% | -28% | -17% | -4% | -19% | -19% | -19% | -20% |
| Aberdeen & NE | -28% | -21% | -14% | -17% | -22% | -21% | -20% | -19% |
| Dundee - Stirling | -17% | -14% | -20% | -20% | -32% | -35% | -23% | -20% |
| West Highland | -4% | -17% | -20% | -4% | -22% | -9% | -9% | -5% |
| Edinburgh | -19% | -22% | -32% | -22% | -33% | -41% | -37% | -31% |
| Inner Glasgow | -19% | -21% | -35% | -9% | -41% | -34% | -34% | -31% |
| Outer Glasgow | -19% | -20% | -23% | -9% | -37% | -34% | -34% | -29% |
| SW Scotland | -20% | -19% | -20% | -5% | -31% | -31% | -29% | -30% |
There are significant savings on some flows and some of the examples highlighted in the promotion of the trial are:
- Edinburgh – Glasgow (£28.90 to £14.90)
- Inverkeithing – Edinburgh (£11.10 to £6.50)
- Perth – Dundee (£14.40 to £9.90)
- Glasgow – Stirling (£16.10 to £9.60)
- Inverurie – Aberdeen (£11.10 to £8.90)
- Inverness – Elgin (£22.00 to £14.40)
Purpose
The aims and objectives of the pathfinder Pilot are as follows:
- Improve awareness of rail as a viable travel choice
- Improve access to rail by reducing the cost of travel at peak times, enabling more people to travel more often
- Reduction in private car travel as more people choose to travel by rail