Scottish Government accused of ‘stealth campaign’ on peak rail fare pilot

The Scottish Government engaged in a “stealth” advertising campaign on the temporary scrapping of peak rail fares, unions have claimed.

The Government decided to scrap the higher fares on a trial basis in an effort to get more people onto trains in the wake of the pandemic, with a 10% increase target set.

But, after almost a year, the pilot was ditched after only increasing footfall by 6.8%, the Government said, as ministers wrestled with a budget blackhole.

But speaking at Holyrood’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, union leaders accused the Scottish Government of not advertising the initiative enough.

The Government ran it ... like a stealth campaign

Gordon Martin, the Scotland organiser for the RMT union, said: “The dropping of the peak fares on a trial basis by the Government, while welcome, was nowhere near long enough and it wasn’t advertised well enough either.

“I think they were frightened to advertise it in case it was over-subscribed, rather than advertising it properly and managing it.”

Kevin Lindsay, the district organiser for the Aslef union, said: “The peak fares (pilot) was welcome, we campaigned hard, put pressure on the Government to agree to it.

“The Government ran it, and as Gordon said, ran it like a stealth campaign.

“They didn’t want people to know about it in case it was successful.

“Then to say that we never reached the 10% target, that 10% was never advertised, that we need to this, and I think we hit 6% or 7%.

“So we’re 3% short of hitting the target, to pull it completely seemed a premature move.

“We could have let it run longer to see if it can be successful, because to get a modal shift from car to train takes time.

“We really need to look at investing in the railway.”

A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland disputed the union’s accusations, adding: “The peak fares pilot did not increase the shift from car to rail in sufficient numbers.

“Scottish ministers will consider further initiatives on peak fares if the funding settlement from the UK Government is increased.

“We are keeping fares increases as low as possible, lower than elsewhere in the UK, while providing a 20% discount on season tickets.”

Meanwhile, the union leaders were also asked about the alcohol ban on ScotRail trains, which was put in place during the pandemic and has not since been lifted.

Mr Martin described the ban as “unenforceable” and told the committee that it was being “ignored” by passengers.

Mr Lindsay said Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop is “listening” to unions on the issue and there is an “ongoing debate” within the Scottish Government about the ban being removed.