Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - ScotRail (Ticket Pricing)
5. Michael Matheson (Falkirk West) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of ScotRail to discuss ticket pricing. (S3O-5733)
The Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change (Stewart Stevenson):
Transport Scotland officials last met ScotRail representatives to discuss ticket pricing in the context of their franchise agreement obligations on 22 January 2009.
Michael Matheson: I want to bring to the minister's attention concerns that my constituents have expressed about ScotRail's ticket pricing. A cheap day return ticket from Falkirk Grahamston to Edinburgh is the same price as a cheap day return ticket from Dunblane, Bridge of Allan or Stirling, despite the fact that Falkirk Grahamston is considerably further along the line towards Edinburgh. Will the minister ensure that there is greater transparency in respect of how ScotRail sets its pricing structure and that there is greater equity in how it decides what prices should be from given stations?
Stewart Stevenson: I understand the member's point. Broadly speaking, the price per mile is in the 18p to 20p range across the network, although there are variations. Many areas are aggregated together as one destination, which has many advantages for travellers and ScotRail. That said, the pricing structure is largely constrained by the contract that we inherited. We will certainly look at an appropriate pricing structure when we next let the franchise.
