Transport Scotland has announced that it has published analysis into its pilot to remove ScotRail Peak Fares. The year-long pilot saw the Scottish Government subsidising the removal of the fares, as part of a drive to encourage people to stop using their cars by making rail travel more affordable. At a cost of around £40 million, the new analysis has delved into the success of the pilot through patronage data.
According to the analysis, there was a limited increase in the number of passengers using the rail network during the pilot period, however this was not shown to be enough to prove that there had been a ‘modal shift’ away from car travel to rail. With this in mind, the pilot will cease on the 27th September this year.