RAIL fares will be kept low in Scotland as part of a growth strategy designed to drive up the number of passengers using the network, Transport Minister Keith Brown has promised.
In an interview with The Herald, Mr Brown ruled out any increase in regulated fares above the current formula, which caps annual fare rises at 1% above inflation, measured by June's retail price index (RPI). About half of rail tickets are regulated, including season tickets..
The strategy is in marked contrast to that pursued by the Westminster Coalition south of the Border, which plans to introduce RPI+3% fare increases from next January in order to lower the taxpayer burden for running the rail network.
This will result in ScotRail passengers seeing lower fare increases than those expected on cross-border services overseen by the Department for Transport (DfT).
Opposition parties in Scotland had voiced fears that higher fare rises could be considered on certain overcrowded peak services in order to move passengers onto less busy off-peak services as part of a strategy for rail services from 2014 announced last month.
However, Mr Brown confirmed that no fare increases beyond the RPI+1% formula would be introduced.
He conceded this would make it more difficult to reduce subsidies of more than £700m a year that the Scottish Government pays to support Scottish rail services, but said this was a price worth paying.
"We were criticised for having the most heavily subsidised part of the network, but part of that is because we have borne down on fare increases," said Mr Brown. "And, of course, because we're geographically widespread and sparsely populated comparatively,"
"Those things add to the cost but one of those costs that we're happy with is the cost of bearing down on fares because we think it helps encourage folk onto the railways."
The fares commitment follows a Scottish Government consultation that highlighted public opposition to introducing higher ticket-price increases.
The Rail 2014 consultation document, published last November, suggested RPI+1% fare hikes could be introduced without pricing people off the rail network and sought views on charging higher prices on routes where major infrastructure work had taken place – with Edinburgh-Glasgow journeys though most likely to be targeted.
Mr Brown described the strategy as "the opposite of the austerity plan for the railways" being pursued by the Coalition.
"What we're saying here is that if we can increase the use of the railways – we're currently sitting at around 6% of the population who travel by train – if we can substantially address the use of the railways and the revenue it receives, that's another way of addressing the level of subsidy," he added.
The minister also gave an encouraging assessment of Network Rail, which he said had been successful in reducing the operating costs of the railways.
"The efficiencies that have been achieved with Network Rail – and I think everyone has acknowledged there has been substantial improvement in what they're doing – again give us more opportunity.
"We're not complacent about the opportunity to drive down the cost of the railway but we're also keen to drive up usage," Mr Brown said.
His comments received a warm welcome from rail watchdog Passenger Focus, whose chief executive, Anthony Smith, said: "Our research has found that only about half of rail passengers in Scotland are satisfied with value for money, so the capping of overall fare increases at RPI+1% will be welcome news. We would urge the Department for Transport to follow suit and do the same."
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