The Scottish Government has been urged to cancel tomorrow’s rail fare hike and freeze ticket prices for the remainder of the year.
Last month, Transport Scotland confirmed that there would be a 4.8% increase in costs to commuters from July 3.
The rise means an anytime day return, which allows peak time travel from Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Waverley has jumped from £27.60 to £28.90. An off-peak return has jumped from £14.20 to £14.90.
It is the first time fares have gone up since ScotRail was taken into public ownership 15 months ago.
READ MORE: Ministers under fire over nationalised ScotRail's 4.8% fare rise
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the rises were “bleak news for rail users.”
He added: “I am calling for fares to be frozen until at least the end of the year, providing much-needed respite for hardworking commuters and everyone travelling around the country during these trying times.
“The SNP/Green Government’s response to the cost-of-living crisis has been abject and they have just missed the all-important climate targets yet again.
"Control of rail fares is within their hands yet rail users are seeing price increases.
“The short-lived fare freeze lasted just six months, a flagship sale cut the price of fewer than 1% of tickets sold, and we are still months away from even a trial of the long-promised removal of peak fares.
“While nationalist ministers continue to make grandiose claims about their commitment to sustainability, their actions belie their words.
"Now that ScotRail is in public hands we need long-term ticketing solutions to encourage people to rely on rail travel, backed by trains that run on time."
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Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson said: “This steep fares rise is a bitter pill for hard-pressed commuters to swallow – particularly in the middle of a global cost-of-living crisis.
“It’s also entirely at odds with the SNP-Greens’ stated mission to get people out of their cars and onto public transport instead.
“Nicola Sturgeon promised us things would get better when she nationalised ScotRail last year – but the opposite has happened. Rail users have endured reduced services, cancellations, industrial action and now rising ticket prices.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “The fares increase does not include season tickets and flexi-passes which remain frozen at current prices.
“For over a decade the Scottish Government has kept fares increases down by ensuring they are in line with RPI, or even lower in the case of off-peak fares.
“This increase is less than inflation and means fares remain, on average, lower than across the rest of Great Britain where the most recent increase was almost 6%.
“Fares have now been frozen for almost 18 months however that is no longer sustainable.
"We know that any increase is unwelcome for passengers, therefore we have kept the rise as low as possible to maintain the attractiveness and affordability of rail as a travel option.
“Work continues to deliver a ScotRail peak fares removal pilot from October this year, alongside wider work on our Fair Fares review.”
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