TRAIN fares in Scotland could be cut by 25 per cent if a Nordic style, state-owned company took over ScotRail services.

Transport experts claim this could be achieved if ministers adopted a similar system to Finland, which has a publicly-owned rail firm running a service rated as one of Europe's best.

The claims are made in A Public Future for Scotland's railways – a report due out next month – commissioned by the TSSA union. It was written by transport specialists at the Common Weal think tank.

A draft of the findings seen by the Sunday Herald says the Finnish model would lead to a drastic cut in rail fares.

Fares for "all long-distance services in Finland were cut on a permanent basis by an average of 25 per cent" in early 2016, the report says.

Passengers would see similar ticket price reductions for journeys between Glasgow and Edinburgh, under the Finnish model, it suggests.

The findings will add to pressure on the SNP Government to nationalise Scotland's rail services.

Scotland should adopt the Finnish model, the report argues, where all passenger services are run by a state-owned rail company.

Finland's rail service is ranked joint-best in Europe for "quality of service" and "second best for quality of rail infrastructure," it states.

"Passengers in Finland enjoy a rail system which is more punctual, more affordable and more technologically advanced" than the UK, it adds.

"These outcomes have been achieved in a system which is free of many of the inefficiencies inherent in our own fragmented model," with multiple companies running UK rail services, the report's authors say.

Ministers have faced calls to strip Dutch company Abellio of the ScotRail franchise it took over in 2015 in a 10-year deal worth up to £6 billion, with the option to cancel it at the halfway point.

Last night, TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes called on ministers to follow the example of Finland, which the SNP has previously cited as a model of a progressive society.

He said: "Scotland has much in common with Scandinavia, except for our obsession with failed privatisation experiments.

"TSSA believes that a Nordic approach could not only slash fares for the Scottish public, but forge a way ahead for an environmentally sound, affordable, socially useful and economically powerful, investment-led rail system that would be the envy of the British isles and compare favourably with our progressive European counterparts."

The TSSA report points out that Scotland has a similar-sized population to Finland, with a similar split between sparsely and densely populated areas.

Underlining that the VR Group, which operates Finland's rail system, pays "a large annual dividend" to the state in Finland of about €100 million.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf is preparing a public sector bid to take over Scotland’s railways, when the contract held by Abellio ends.

Yousaf was forced to apologise to passengers following criticism of ScotRail over widespread disruption last winter.

ScotRail owner Abellio said the company was prepared to compete with public sector bids to run Scotland's rail services. A spokesman said: “We are investing £475m in Scotland’s railways, the biggest investment since the Victorian era delivering more seats and faster journey times for passengers.

“Much of the rail industry is already nationalised in the form of Network Rail, the infrastructure owner and the Scottish Government, which sets most of the fares.

“As we have indicated previously we have no problem competing with a public-sector bid should that be what the Scottish Government decides to do.”

Last night a spokeswoman from the government's agency Transport Scotland said: ”The minister looks forward to reading the TSSA’s report when it is published next month.

"The Scottish Government is taking steps to ensure that a public sector operator is able to bid for a future rail contract, and that there is a public sector body able to do so."