Rail fares and ticketing have been simplified for ScotRail customers after the national operator announced that peak fares are to be "gone for good", effective from 1st September.
By removing peak fares passengers will no longer need to worry about when to travel, and ScotRail said the change could save customers close to 50% on tickets, including those between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The operator hopes this approach will encourage people to use the railway more frequently.
The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport UK’s (CILT UK) Chair of The Board, Anna-Jane Hunter FCILT, appeared on BBC Radio 4 alongside ScotRail's Chief Operating Officer, David Ross, to discuss the new simplified ticketing approach.
Anna-Jane expressed her support for the initiative but also outlined that it may not be the right approach for everyone due to rail capacity constraints.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Anna-Jane said:
"This is one of the tools we can use to attract more people to use public transport in general and if the capacity is there to welcome them, I think it's a great initiative that ScotRail are undertaking."
She also explained that peak fares have historically been introduced to combat capacity constraints and balance passenger numbers, which is possibly why more operators have currently chosen not to take the same approach as ScotRail.
When challenged on the BBC whether ScotRail had the capacity to ensure its new approach would be successful, David Ross explained the operator has all trains out on the network and said:
"We're still not back to pre-pandemic levels, it's about 85% at peak times so there is plenty of capacity for people to come and travel with us."
"Those cheaper and simpler fares will hopefully drive people out of their cars and onto the railway," he added.
Experts from CILT(UK) say they are supportive of rail ticketing reform but stressed the importance of its paper released in February urging the government to simplify the current complex and difficult ticketing system, highlighting actions to help create an easy-to-understand scheme which benefits more users.
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