Question reference: S6W-24182
- Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 20 December 2023
-
Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 December 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper fares for 2024.
Answer
The Scottish Government rightly made the decision to freeze some fares as part of its response to the cost of living crisis, however this is simply no longer sustainable.
Caledonian Sleeper fares will increase by 8.7% from 1 January, excluding seated tickets. Similarly, from 1 April 2024, all ScotRail fares will also increase by 8.7%, including season tickets and flexi-passes which have been frozen since January 2022.
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. That is why we are extending our ScotRail peak fares pilot for a further three months until June 2024.
The timing of the ScotRail fares increase has been moved away from January, when personal budgets are often more stretched than other times of the year, to April bringing it into alignment with the financial year.
The basis of the increase has also been moved away from the use of RPI six months prior to January, to one based on CPI 12 months prior to April.
Fares remain, on average, lower than across the rest of Great Britain.