BUSINESS passengers are prepared to pay significantly higher rail fares in return for improvements to services, a leading Scottish trade organisation said.

A survey carried out by the Scottish Council for Development and Industry found only one-quarter of passengers identified "minimising fare increases" as their main priority.

By contrast, the survey of 212 individuals and businesses around Scotland found reliability and punctuality was rated as the top priority by 69% or respondents. Service frequency, the ability to work on board a train and obtain a seat were all ranked higher than ticket prices.

The results, due to be submitted today as part of the Scottish Government's Rail 2014 consultation, will make for interesting reading among civil servants who have mooted the idea of raising statutory caps on rail fares. However, they were branded as "nonsense" and at odds with the views of ordinary passengers yesterday by the RMT rail union.

In the SCDI survey 67% of respondents agreed with the suggestion in the Rail 2014 consultation and said they were prepared to pay higher fares on routes where significant investment has been made.

James Alexander, senior policy and communications manager for SCDI, said: "What we've seen is broad business support for upgrades to services, not only including making services more reliable, frequent and faster but specifically including options to allow greater productivity on the train by, for example, providing wi-fi and a reliable phone signal.

"The crucial thing is the business community has said it is prepared to pay more for tickets if those facilities are available."

However, Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, said: "This report is nonsense.

"The vast majority of people using Scottish rail services are not fat-cat business people on generous expenses, they are passengers on low to average earnings who would be hit hard by inflation-busting fare increases in the name of maximising private profits."