Leader: Coffee penny-pinching takes the biscuit

POLITICAL battle may rage over devo-max. But in the corridors and carriages of ScotRail trains, there is one issue even hotter: coffee-min.

In a cunning move, the rail operator is now offering travellers hot drinks in containers one third smaller than before. The coffee beakers have been shrunk from 12oz to 8oz – but with only 10p knocked off the price. That this penny-pinching shrinkage has occurred just weeks after commuters were hit by an inflation-busting 6 per cent fares increase only adds to the ire of the travelling public. ScotRail says it has been forced to cut the cup sizes in the face of passenger complaints about coffee and tea running out on long-distance routes. The obvious solution, surely, would have been to carry more hot water flasks on the catering trolleys. Instead, the cups have been shrunk – and a price rise sneakily disguised.

In defence, ScotRail says it has done all it can to absorb rising costs and that the price of Colombian coffee has risen strongly since the summer of 2010. However, it did push through a 6.25 per cent rise to £1.70 last summer and even at the new price of £1.60 Scotrail coffee is more expensive by the fluid ounce than most competitiors, including the station Pumpkin cafés. The problem is one of under-supply, easily rectified. Embittered passengers planning ahead might now resort to bringing their own flasks on the trains, thus depriving ScotRail of income as their sales fall – and with no risk of their own cups shrinking before their eyes.