JOHN Swinney has announced peak railway fares will be scrapped "for good" in Scotland.
The First Minister laid out the measure in his Programme for Government on Tuesday afternoon in the Holyrood chamber.
It will come into place on September 1.
“Last year, in the face of severe budget pressures, we took the difficult decision to end the peak fares pilot on our railways," Swinney said.
"But now, given the work we have done to get Scotland's finances in a stronger position, and hearing the calls from commuters, climate activists and the business community, I can confirm from September 1 this year, peak rail fares in Scotland will be scrapped for good.
READ MORE: John Swinney challenges UK Government on Acorn Project
"A decision that will put more money in people's pockets and mean less C02 is pumped into our skies."
The peak fares pilot scheme was brought to an end on September 27 last year after ministers judged it to have failed given it not increased passenger numbers sufficiently to be self-financing.
The Scottish Greens celebrated the re-introduction of the policy as a victory for the party after several MSPs pushed for peak fares to be abolished permanently.
In a post on Twitter/X, co-leader Lorna Slater said: "Massive Green win for Scotland! Train fares are about to get cheaper!
"In 2023, Greens scrapped peak fares, but the SNP brought them back last year. Now, following pressure from Green MSPs, trade unions and thousands of constituents, the SNP have backed our calls."
In the chamber, Slater (below) also called on Swinney to "avoid the hesitation he showed" over rail fares and cap the price of bus fares "for good".
Alongside the scrapping of peak fares, the Scottish Government has also confirmed it will be replacing the current alcohol ban on ScotRail with "new regulations" that focus restrictions "more effectively on particular times and locations", highlighting concerns from rail staff that the current ban is "counterproductive and ineffective".
The Programme for Government is normally set out in September, but Swinney brought it forward to coincide with one year to go until the next Holyrood election.
He also said it was brought forward "because of the scale of the looming economic challenge we face".
Swinney announced the programme includes a new export plan to help Scottish companies selling products abroad.
The First Minister also said his Government is willing to increase its support for the Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire.
He said the Scottish Government had already committed up to £80 million, adding: “My government is now willing, as part of a wider package of investment in industrial transformation, to remove that cap and increase the amount of Scottish funding that is available to make Acorn a reality should the project be given the go-ahead by the UK Government.”
READ MORE: ScotRail alcohol ban to end, Scottish Government says
Elsewhere, it was confirmed the Scottish Government will produce a new plan aimed at tackling child poverty in the next year.
Swinney said plans remain “on track” to effectively lift the two-child benefit cap next April.
He told MSPs: “In the coming year we will consult on, develop and publish a tackling child poverty delivery plan for 2026-31 – outlining the actions we will take with our partners for low-income families across Scotland to keep us on the journey to meet our poverty reduction targets for 2030.
“I can assure members that this will focus on reducing household costs,
boosting incomes through social security, and helping more people into
fair and sustainable jobs.”
The First Minister also confirmed a universal winter heating payment for pensioners will be delivered this year in response to the Labour UK Government's cut to the Winter Fuel Payment.
Swinney further said legislation to tackle conversion practices would come in the first year of the next parliamentary session, unless a “legislative ban across England, Wales and Scotland” can be agreed.
On Friday, ministers revealed that criminalising conversion practices, interventions that would seek to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, are no longer on the Scottish Government’s immediate agenda.
Instead, the Scottish Government has said it will “work” with the UK Government on legislation taking a four-nations approach. If this is unsuccessful, ministers said they will publish a Scottish bill in the first term of the next parliament, after the Holyrood 2026 elections.
On the NHS, Swinney told MSPs he recognises the frustration about the “8am lottery” for GP appointments, and the Government will act to increase capacity.
He said there would be an extra 100,000 GP appointments delivered in the next 12 months through a bigger share of NHS funding going to primary care.
Swinney said: “That includes in the year ahead a further expansion of Pharmacy First services – with pharmacies being the right first port of call for many ailments.
"But it also means the delivery of an extra 100,000 appointments in GP
surgeries focused on key risk factors such as high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, obesity and smoking.”
Share