In 2024 Scotland’s largest trade unions and environmental groups joined together to demand an end to peak rail fares on Scotland’s railway. The Scottish Government scrapped all peak fares on rail journeys on 1st September 2025.
Following the “inexplicable” decision from the Scottish Government to reinstate peak fares following a successful pilot of off-peak ticket prices, the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), rail unions and environmental groups launched the campaign ‘Past its Peak: End Scotland’s Peak Fare Pricing’.
The campaign sought to harness public frustration and push for affordable, accessible rail travel as a key measure to reduce carbon emissions, support workers, and stimulate economic growth. The campaign involved a petition, public actions, and engagement with political allies, aiming to reverse the decision and promote fair pricing for all rail passengers.
In 2023 and 2024 the removal of peak fares was successfully trialled seeing a rise in passenger rail usage but the Scottish Government reintroduced peak fares in September 2024. In the same month we wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop MSP, encouraging the Scottish Government to think again and reinstate the trial with a view to abolishing peak fare pricing for good. In May 2025 the Scottish Government announced it would scrap peak fares for good.
You can read the letter signed here.
Signatories included; STUC, RMT, Unite, ASLEF, TSSA, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Get Glasgow Moving and the Just Transition Partnership.
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