The return of peak rail fares – which saw prices from Perth increase by up to 60 per cent – has been blasted a “brutal blow” for the city’s commuters.
The reinstatement of peak rail fares came into force this week, with a ticket between Perth and Edinburgh increasing by more than £10 from £21.60 to £34.30.
For workers travelling from Perth to Dundee at peak times, fares will now increase from £10.80 to £15.70 for a day return, a hike of 45 per cent.
The Scottish Government had temporarily scrapped increased charges to encourage people back onto trains.
But the plans did not have the required impact, government agency Transport Scotland said.
Perthshire Green MSP Mark Ruskell this week described the return of peak fares as “a brutal blow” for Perthshire workers, students and families.
He said: “Peak rail fares are fundamentally unfair. They disproportionately impact people who have no say over when they need to travel for work or study. Bringing them back will do nothing to help workers or students or to encourage people out of their cars.
“Many regular commuters from Perthshire have saved hundreds of pounds on their fares over the last year, and some of the rises they will now face are staggering.
“If we want to build a transport system that works for people and planet then we need to ensure that rail is always an affordable and reliable option.
“People in Scotland already pay some of the highest fares in Europe and this will only make it worse.”
And PKC Carse of Gowrie Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey said this week: “People in Perth will be disappointed that their peak rail fare to Edinburgh goes back up by almost 60 per cent with the cancellation of this trial.
“It seems a shame that the trial is being considered a failure on the basis of it missing its goals so narrowly against a backdrop of reduced timetables and the Scottish Government’s continued subsidy of inter-city coach travel.”
He added: “Our inter-city public transport provision as a whole has to be financially sustainable and at the moment the Scottish Government is giving significant subsidy to coach operators both through paying them to buy vehicles and concessionary passes.
“Those private companies are in direct competition with the train on most corridors including Perth to Edinburgh.”
Speaking to journalists in Perth on Monday, First Minister and Perthshire North MSP, John Swinney, said that Scotland’s rail network must be “financially sustainable”.
Mr Swinney commented: “We’ve given the peak fares pilot a lot more time than we originally planned, we promised to do it for six months, we actually did it for 12 months to give it as much opportunity to demonstrate its value.
“Unfortunately, it did not deliver the sufficient shift in passenger numbers to justify the cost involved and the government has got to live within its means.”
The decision, which comes as the Scottish Government wrestles with financial issues, has been criticised by opposition parties and trade unions.
Scottish Labour claimed peak travel between October last year and July had increased by almost 40 per cent compared the same period the year before – though Transport Scotland said the figures were “misleading”.
Passenger numbers increased by a maximum of 6.8 per cent as a result of the pilot, the agency said, with a rise of at least 10 per cent required for the scheme to break even.