6. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to make rail travel more affordable and attractive for passengers in the Mid Scotland and Fife region. (S6O-02979)

A range of work is under way to improve services in Fife. As the result of a £160 million investment by the Scottish Government, a new line to Levenmouth will open, and services will commence in June. The ScotRail peak fares removal pilot has also been extended for a further three months, until June. That initiative will not only support the Government’s ambitions for more sustainable travel but continue to attract passengers to rail in the member’s electoral region and throughout Scotland, as it offers passengers significant savings.

I welcome the extension of the pilot to remove peak fares, but the upcoming hike in rail fares that will hit passengers once the pilot ends is not so welcome. When the pilot ends, prices will increase by 8.7 per cent, which will follow a 4.8 per cent increase less than a year ago. Rail travel is becoming increasingly expensive, and people will see a dramatic increase when the pilot ends.

The minister said earlier that the delayed fair fares review will be presented to the Parliament in the coming weeks. When will an assessment of the pilot be made available? What is the Government doing to prevent people from being priced off the railways?

We will ensure that the evaluation of the pilot is made available. The disruption because of severe weather at the end of 2023 might have had an impact, so the extension will help in providing a more rounded view over the piece.

Our fares are still comparably lower than those in the rest of the United Kingdom. We have postponed the increase from the normal January date to April and, with the extension of the peak fares removal pilot, most commuting journeys will remain cheaper until July 2024 and cheaper than in July 2023, when fares had had a below-inflation increase following fare freezes for season and flexipass tickets.

Even with the increase that will affect commuting journeys from July 2024, a return fare from Burntisland to Edinburgh will increase by just over £1 on the year before, which demonstrates that we are still trying to ensure that our rail travel is affordable.

Are there early indications of the impact of the peak fares removal pilot on train users in Mid Scotland and Fife? What are the most frequented trains in the region? What savings have patrons of the routes made as a result of the action that the Scottish National Party led Government has taken?

There have been extensive improvements across areas of the Fife region. I think that many who are commuting on longer journeys to Glasgow and Edinburgh will save between £6 following the fare increase and £7 now per journey—if those figures are not accurate, I will be happy to correct them. I want to see the evaluation of the difference that the pilot is making, and I want to reflect on the disruption that we might see to what was the regular return for journeys in the area.

The Government’s continued investment in our rail services not only allows our decarbonisation to progress but ensures that we have affordable services. The member will reflect that bringing ScotRail services into public ownership has made a variety of initiatives for passengers’ benefit more realisable.