The past couple of months have not been a positive advert for train services in Scotland.
The weakened train timetable introduced by ScotRail in July has significantly impacted Eastwood with reduced services on offer at stations in the constituency.
On the East Kilbride line with stops at Thornliebank, Giffnock, Clarkston and Busby stations, the cuts include the reduction in core daytime services outside peak travel times from two to just the one per hour from Monday to Saturday.
On the Glasgow to Neilston line for Williamwood, Whitecraigs and Patterton stations, a number of key morning and evening services have been removed from the timetable.
This is an incredibly disappointing situation and it has significantly reduced the number of available train services for my constituents.
There has been further misery in recent weeks for train commuters with the announcement that the removal of the peak fares trial scheme will end on 27th September.
This means that from the end of September onwards passengers across Scotland will experience a huge increase in the cost of tickets with for instance, peak fares to increase by more than 50 percent between East Kilbride and Glasgow.
The decision of the SNP to end the scheme and bring back peak fares will punish hard working people in Scotland who regularly travel to work by train as they are now faced with having to pay hundreds if not thousands more in transport costs.
The combination of the reduced timetable and the return of peak fares is leading to less reliable and more costly train services.
There is also the important concern that hiking fares could act as a disincentive towards people leaving private cars at home and to instead travel on public transport, as part of the efforts to achieve net zero.
If concerted and purposeful action is not taken, Scotland’s system of train transport will only continue to move in a downward trajectory.
Scottish Conservatives are very strongly against the SNP’s decision to reinstate peak rail fares and we believe that they should be scrapped permanently to ease the costs of train travel for commuters.
Last week at Holyrood, we brought forward a motion for debate in the Scottish Parliament to call for just that.
The motion on the cost of train travel and another we submitted for all primary pupils in Scotland to receive free school meals were voted through by a majority of MSP’s.
Whilst the votes are not binding on the Scottish Government, parliament has now spoken on both issues and the SNP should not ignore the verdict of MSP’s.
It would be arrogant and foolish for the SNP to do so.
The will of parliament must be respected and the SNP should now act to prioritise lower train travel costs for commuters by permanently removing peak travel fares.
Reinstating the standard timetable for services on East Kilbride, Neilston and other lines must also finally be treated as a priority issue by the SNP.
