HOT ON THE HEELS of their announcing a deal last week that allowed over-50s to travel anywhere in Scotland for £16 return, ScotRail have come up with a new £5 travel ticket.
Part of a new ‘airline style’ ticketing system, ScotRail has determined to base some of their seat pricing more closely aligned to customer demand.
As a result Moray customers who book well in advance of travel could find their travel costs slashed with the new first-come first-served ticket, one of five new levels of advance fares on certain routes that can be reserved, replacing the existing two.
Phil Verster, managing director of the ScotRail Alliance said: “Our customers tell us that they want two things from their railway. They want fast, punctual, modern trains and they want great value for money in regards to the price they pay for tickets.
“Last month we announced our largest ever train improvement plan. Over the next few years we will spend £475m delivering new trains, more seats and better facilities across our fleets. Today we are making good on our commitment to offer the types of discounted tickets that have never before been available in Scotland.
“These new ticket fares are not just about encouraging people to ditch the car and take the train. This is about opening up the railway to more people so that we can connect them with jobs, businesses with customers and communities with more opportunities to grow and prosper.
“This is a hugely important announcement for us at an exciting time for Scotland’s railway. I am sure that it will be an incredibly popular ticket choice and will make rail an even more attractive way to travel.”
The £5 fare rate was one of the promises made by Abellio when they bid for the ScotRail franchise, with the company saying they are pleased to deliver on that promise three months earlier than planned.
Tom Norris, who is group operations and alliance director for Abellio UK, said: “Abellio is delighted that the ScotRail Alliance is introducing the new £5 fares much earlier than anticipated, and to allow our passengers these fantastic savings on advance bookings.
“This fare offer was an important element of our successful bid for ScotRail and we are confident that these £5 fares will be extremely successful.
“It is important to give people more choices on their travel, and we are committed to providing excellent value for money, and products and services that go beyond a-to-b for our customers, and this is just one example of how we are already putting this into practice.”
The £5 advance tickets will be available on the Aberdeen to Inverness route, as well as for onward travel from Aberdeen to Edinburgh and Glasgow or from Inverness to Wick, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Advance tickets will be released into booking systems 12 weeks ahead of travel.
For more information visit www.scotrail.co.uk/5fares