The Herald caught up with travellers at Queen Street station in Glasgow yesterday.
l David Waite, 30, a geography student at St Andrew’s University, said: “This increase will definitely be noticeable but I don’t think it will make me consider other options.
“For students, obviously any increase will hurt the bottom line they’re working to, but I’m not sure whether that’s enough to change their travel arrangements.”
l Joanne Young, 39, below, a foot specialist from Edinburgh, said: “I don’t commute for work but I do a lot of travel throughout the UK by train and I think it’s pretty cheeky, to be honest. I think if they’re going to keep increasing prices, they have to improve the service.
“And if the Government wants to encourage people not to use their cars, then prices have to be reasonable.”
l David Donald, 71, a retired politics lecturer from Milngavie, said: “It’s unfortunate given the other things that are still going wrong in the economy, and I think quite a number of people will be put off using the train.”
l Archie Gray, 50, right, an IT manager for ACAS from Dunblane, said: “I use the train a lot, I come to work on the train everyday but I can’t do anything other than accept the increase. I don’t want to have to pay any more but I’m not going to stop using the train. It will still be cheaper than taking the car to work and it’s much less hassle.”
l Valerie Busher, 52, a development manager for Maggies Cancer Centres from Broughty Ferry, said: “I work for a charity, so every penny we spend is important and I use trains a lot to travel for my work, so it will have a big impact on us.
“I think it’s shocking that they’re increasing prices when they’re already so high – today I paid around £45 for a ticket from Dundee to Glasgow.
“My train was freezing for the whole journey, it certainly wasn’t good value for money.”
l Susan Ross, 63, left, a retired headteacher from Auchterarder, said: “If the rail prices continue to go up, it will preclude a lot of people from using trains.
“It’s going to cost too much, and people will be forced to use other methods of transport.”
