Campaigner for fair rail fares: Passengers must come first

Ministers face a difficult task improving services for passengers while coping with the massive loss in income following the pandemic, according to George Eckton, a campaigner for lower fares.

A former director of the South East of Scotland Transport Partnership, he said the nationalised ScotRail will need to take account of consumer legislation imposing a duty on public bodies to consider consumers when making strategic decisions.

Eckton agrees with Scottish Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth that passengers will not see a huge difference on Friday as ownership changes: “People will see very little change on April 1.

“The greater issue for the Scottish Government will be balancing the consumer duty that has just been introduced with the huge revenue gap that’s going to exist because of the change in travel patterns due to the pandemic.

“They have a duty to run the railways but also ensure consumers get the best deal, and that’s going to be a problem. You would hope that public ownership will make ScotRail behave more like a public body than a commercial company and be more open and honest with people. By not having to pay private shareholders a dividend, you would hope it might actually put the consumer first.”

After ferry fiasco, Jenny Gilruth catches 12.15 to explain why rail reform will work

Eckton has submitted a petition to Holyrood calling for ScotRail customers to always be given information on the cheapest possible fare when buying tickets. He said passengers could get lower fares on some routes by splitting tickets.

He said: “You would hope that ScotRail would continue to invest in the ticket office estate so that people have the opportunity to ask a physical person for the best possible advice.

“They’re moving towards a digital service by default, and that’s not helpful for vulnerable consumers.

“I always think of that from a perspective of my nan, who wants to speak to a human being for advice on the best possible price so that she can save money and spend that money on the grandchildren when she gets to the end of her journey.”