Rail travellers in Scotland, today’s your lucky day: peak fares across the country are about to be completely suspended for a whopping six months. For an entire half-year, you’ll only have to pay off-peak prices on the vast majority of Scottish trains.
The scheme applies to all routes operated by ScotRail – and could see prices on some lines (namely between Edinburgh and Glasgow) slashed by almost half. The idea behind it all is to encourage train travel throughout Scotland, with the Scottish parliament putting aside £15 million to help fund it.
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To get the reduced fare, you’ll need to buy a ‘walk-up’ ticket. That essentially means getting a ticket at the station on the day of travel, rather than buying one in advance.
A peak train on ScotRail is usually one that departs at 9.15am or earlier on weekdays, though there are exceptions. Also on weekdays, the 6.15pm from Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street, the 6.15pm Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh and the 6.30pm Edinburgh to Aberdeen trains are considered peak fare routes.
It should be noted that the off-peak-fare scheme won’t apply to all trains in Scotland. Those operated by national rail companies such as LNER, Lumo and CrossCountry won’t be included, and nor will the specialist Caledonian Sleeper service.
It hasn’t yet been announced exactly when the scheme will come into place, though it’s thought it’ll happen sometime between April 2023 and March 2024.
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