ScotRail scaled back advertising in case peak fares suspension caused overcrowding

Trial fuels 4 per cent increase in journeys but Scottish Conservatives fear it will be hit by impending steep fares rise

ScotRail has revealed it was so worried that suspending peak fares would cause overcrowding that it limited advertising of the discount.

The operator said passenger numbers had increased by 4 per cent since the trial started in October. However, the experiment is not expected to recoup its £15 million cost, which was funded by the Scottish Government.

Extra carriages were added to some trains, but ScotRail said it had not seen much overcrowding.

ScotRail ticket prices will rise by 8.7 per cent from April. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

The Scottish Conservatives said the scheme’s success risked being sabotaged by an 8.7 per cent increase in ticket prices from April, which was announced on Wednesday.

ScotRail said advertising of the peak fares suspension would be ramped up in January, while it was announced in the Scottish Budget on Tuesday the six-month experiment is to be extended by three months until the end of June.

Transport Scotland said the extension was “to collect more data as this gives more information about trends over time – we want as robust evaluation as possible”.

Alex Hynes, managing director of Scotland’s Railway, which comprises ScotRail and track owner Network Rail Scotland, told the Green Signals podcast: “We expected it to increase our passenger numbers and we expected it cost us money, and that’s exactly what’s happened.

"We think we are about 4 per cent busier in terms of passenger journeys and we think we will deliver the trial within the £15m budget, so it has given away some of our revenue.”

Transport Scotland criticises ScotRail owner’s peak fares suspension cost estimate as ‘unhelpful speculation’

However, Mr Hynes said the “underlying performance” of the scheme had been difficult to assess because of the scale of weather disruption over the past two months.

He said the pilot was designed to encourage more people to switch from cars to trains. Mr Hynes said: "It is a spend to decarbonise project. A lot of people find rail relatively expensive and if we are going to decarbonise Scotland, we need to drive modal shift, and the price people pay is a barrier to that.

“We are just getting a taste of what the behavioural change might be if you wanted to make it a more permanent arrangement."

Speaking before the trial was extended, Mr Hynes said the pilot’s evaluation would include whether the extra passengers had switched from cars or buses, or made more trips.

He said: "We didn’t see a lot of overcrowding, which was a real risk. Because we were concerned about the risk of overcrowding, we deliberately did not do any paid advertising.”

However, Mr Hynes said that would start in January when “we are going to push it quite hard, along the lines of ‘reboot your commute’.”

ScotRail peak fares suspension an inspired move, but will it risk overcrowding?

Scottish Conservatives transport spokesperson Graham Simpson said: “Alex Hynes is telling us what we already know – that cutting fares attracts more people onto trains. ScotRail should start plugging this scheme because we want it to be a success.

“This is exactly why it is so wrong that the SNP has announced a near 9 per cent fare increase next year. That will undo all the good work of ending peak fares.

“It is a shame that Humza Yousaf could not recognise the folly of this when questioned about it at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.”