Question reference: S6W-26613
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 2 April 2024
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Current status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 April 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason bus travel reportedly receives less funding than rail travel when it is the most popular form of public transport, according to the Scottish Transport Statistics 2023.
Answer
The nature of Scottish Government funding for bus and rail sectors is fundamentally different. Funding provided to the bus sector is primarily through reimbursement for concessionary travel schemes which provides free bus travel for eligible passengers, and the Network Support Grant to support local bus services. This makes fares more affordable for the public, whilst supporting bus operators. Funding for rail provides subsidy to ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper which is necessary to provide services, with the majority of funding supporting Network Rail Scotland to operate, maintain, renew and enhance the rail network infrastructure.
Almost one half of all bus journeys in 2022-23 were made under the National Concessionary Travel scheme, 12 percentage points more than in 2021-22. In early 2022, the scheme was expanded to include those aged under 22.