Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make consuming alcohol on trains in Scotland illegal.
As a publicly owned and controlled railway, it is important that ScotRail plays its part in delivering Scottish Government ambitions for its success. As part of that, ScotRail quite rightly reviewed the ban on alcohol and brought forward proposals for consideration. Following robust scrutiny against wider Scottish Government priorities and policy implications, it was considered that further work on these proposals would be required including wider consultation on the implications.
Given the diversity of views on the sale and consumption of alcohol on ScotRail services, consideration of its reintroduction will form part of the National Conversation on Rail. This will enable a wide range of views to be taken into account before any final decision is made. In the meantime, everyone needs to be mindful that, while many of the pandemic restrictions have been lifted, Covid hasn’t gone away and the Scottish Government’s advisory guidance remains in place.