Glasgow Subway users set for inflation-busting rise in cost of tickets

THE price of a single ticket on Glasgow’s Subway is reportedly set to rise from £1.20 to £1.40 next month - a rise of 17 per cent.

The increase in fares, which operator Strathclyde Passenger Transport is expected to approve on Friday, is in response to a drop in income as a result of an annual fall in passengers of around 120,000 in the past year.

A return ticket will rise from £2.40 to £2.60, while a 20-journey ticket will jump from £20 to £22.

The average rise in fares across all six ticket types is expected to be nine per cent - almost three times the rate of inflation.

SPT attributed the fall in passenger numbers to problems in the wider economy, and defended the price hike by claiming that fares on the network have remained unchanged for the past three years - a period which has seen a 12 per cent rise in bus and train fares.

Fares on bus routes subsidised by SPT, meanwhile, will rise by five per cent, and MyBus or Dial a Bus fares will increase from £2 to £2.50.

SPT chief executive Eric Stewart is seeking approval for the price hike in a report to SPT partnership members.

He said: “With Subway fares having remained unchanged since 2009, members are recommended to approve a general increase of around nine per cent. This maintains Subway fares at a level still well below equivalent bus and rail fares.

“One of the key fundamental aims of Subway modernisation is to reduce subsidy. The review is part of an ongoing process to ensure SPT’s Subway ticketing and fares policy provides good value for the travelling public and to the public purse.”