ScotRail passenger fares to rise again in April - here's how much ticket prices are increasing

The rise will come into force on April 1. The extension of ScotRail’s flexipass ticket to cover 12 single journeys rather than ten will continue.

In response to a parliamentary question announcing the increase, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said the Scottish Government wanted to encourage more people on to public transport and had kept the increase “as low as possible”.

She said: “From April 1, 2025, all ScotRail fares will increase by 3.8 per cent, including season tickets and flexipasses.

“We want more people to choose to travel by public transport for work, study and leisure, but we know that people are still struggling with cost-of-living pressures and don’t always see public transport as affordable or attractive.

“That is why we have kept the rise this year as low as possible, while also supporting the generation of sufficient revenue to help maintain existing services, and contribute towards investment in infrastructure and fleets.”

The increase is lower than the 8.7 per cent that came into force last year, but remains above the rate of inflation seen in December – 2.5 per cent.

The fare rise will lift the price of an anytime return ticket between Glasgow and Edinburgh to £32.60. The uplift was confirmed after peak ScotRail fares returned on September 30 last year, with the Government choosing to scrap the trial of having all tickets set at off-peak prices.

Scottish Conservative transport spokeswoman Sue Webber said the increase would come as a “bitter blow for hard-pressed ScotRail passengers”.

She said: “Passengers will be dismayed they will have to fork out even more in the coming months for services that are frequently cancelled and delayed.

“We know in typical SNP fashion that since coming under their control, costs to the taxpayer have soared by hundreds of millions, compared to when the rail network was in private hands.

“If the SNP are serious about hitting car reduction targets, then they need to start making ScotRail services more reliable and stop giving the taxpayer a raw deal.”

Scottish Green transport spokesman Mark Ruskell said the increase would cause “misery” for commuters.

“If we want rail to be the first and best option for regular journeys, then it has to be affordable and accessible for all,” he said. “When the Scottish Greens were in government, we secured the removal of peak rail fares, only for the SNP to bring them back as soon as we were out of the room.

“It was right to take ScotRail into public ownership, but we have a long way to go in building a modern and affordable rail network.

“It shouldn’t have to cost a fortune to get to work, to hospital appointments or even to explore Scotland. We must end peak rail fares and stop financially penalising those who have no say on when they have to travel.”

Scottish Labour transport spokeswoman Claire Baker said: “This fare hike will hammer rail passengers and consign ScotRail to a spiral of decline. The SNP should be making rail more affordable, but instead it has hit passengers with painful fare hikes time and time again.

“This increase is bad for Scotland’s rail passengers, bad for our economy and bad for the environment.”