TRAVELLERS faced with soaring fuel prices and conjested roads are turning to Scotland's railways in ever-increasing numbers.
New figures reveal rail travel is more popular now than at any time since the 1920s, with millions more journeys made by train in the past 12 months as commuters decided to leave the car at home.
ScotRail, which is responsible for 95% of all passenger train services in Scotland, said a total of 83.3 million journeys were made in the year ending March 31, 2013 – up more than two million, or 2.6%, on the previous year.
It was almost 20 million more than when First took over the ScotRail franchise in October 2004, meaning the number of journeys taken is now 33% higher than it was during the last 12 months of the previous franchise, which was operated by National Express from 1997 to 2004.
The rise comes as the price of petrol has soared, with motorists paying 132.4p per litre of unleaded petrol at the start of the year and 140.2p by March, according to the AA.
Steve Montgomery, ScotRail's managing director, said: "The rise in passenger numbers is pleasing and shows we are connecting even more communities, helping to grow the economy and encouraging people out of their cars on to public transport.
"There's still more to be done, and we will continue to expand services and improve the customer experience."
The increase came despite a 3.9% rise in fares from the start of this year, which took the price of a return peak-time ticket between Glasgow and Edinburgh to £21.80.
However, ScotRail has promised to freeze off-peak fares next year and in 2015, provided inflation does not rise above 3.5%. It also pledged to peg any increase in peak fares to the Retail Price Index, as opposed to the RPI+1% formula used in England and on cross-border routes.
The current rail franchise contract will expire in March 2015, with operators due to be invited to bid for control later this year.
Transport Minister Keith Brown has pledged to limit off-peak fare increases to RPI-1% when the ScotRail franchise is renewed in 2015.
Last week it also emerged prices on dozens of rail routes will be reduced in a move designed to iron out anomalies which have meant it was cheaper to buy two tickets than pay a single fare for some journeys.
The move will end the "split-ticket" inconsistencies and mean most full destination fares will be at least 50p cheaper than buying one ticket for part of the journey and a second for the remainder.
Transport Scotland provided £2.28m to help pay for the changes to be brought in.
Mr Brown said yesterday: "The train is a more environmentally friendly way of getting around, which benefits the nation as a whole through improvements to the health of the population and reduced congestion, and therefore greater safety on our roads.
"Thanks to our record investment in Scotland's railways, passengers know they can experience more reliable train journeys than ever before."
Mr Brown said he looked forward to seeing "a continuation of the trend of more and more people opting for the train".
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