To ask the Scottish Government what would be required for the frequency of service on the Milngavie rail line to return to quarter-hourly throughout the day, as was the case before the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-03838)

As was discussed with Ross Greer during our meeting last year, Milngavie station is well served under the regular timetable, which was reintroduced on Monday this week. There are two trains per hour throughout the day, which increases to four trains per hour in peak times. The current service provision reflects passenger demand in the peak and off-peak periods.

I am grateful for the time that the cabinet secretary and her officials took to speak to me last year. My question was about what would be required for the Milngavie line to return to its pre-pandemic timetable of four trains an hour throughout the day. Until the pandemic, there clearly was the patronage to support that, and I am interested to find out what would be required for us to return to that. I recognise that we are not at that stage yet; I am simply asking the Government to explain what would be required for us to return to four trains an hour throughout the day and not just at peak times.

The member might be aware that ScotRail assessed timetables to identify how we could maximise usage and meet customer needs. However, sometimes, after availability and a cost benefit analysis have been taken into account, it is not always possible to give everybody what they want at every opportunity. I know that reliability of services is important to regular users of train services. In terms of additional resources, such as fleet and drivers, ScotRail will continue to keep the matter under review. As for the member’s ambitions, he has to recognise that we are still moving past the Covid period in terms of patronage both on buses, which we just discussed, and on rail.

Although I am glad to hear that the temporary timetable is finally no longer in place, commuters from my local area of Milngavie are now forced to pay £7.10 instead of £4.80 for a service to Glasgow during peak times. The Government has also put forward a plan to reduce car kilometres by 20 per cent by 2030. How does the Scottish Government expect to reduce car travel when it has made public transport more costly?

That question was fairly expansive in relation to the substantive question. You may respond on the substantive point, cabinet secretary.

Help for passengers to use rail more often includes the introduction of discounts of 20 per cent on weekly season tickets, monthly season tickets and annual season tickets. If people go from Glasgow to Milngavie, or in the other direction, four days per week with a monthly season ticket, the cost per day can be £4.60. If people use a flexipass, which allows six return journeys over a 60-day period and can help people who are hybrid working, that cost is only £4.78. I am sure that, after I sent members a letter that provided sample costs when people use the discounts, Pam Gosal and other MSPs will have promoted those discounts and circulated that information to their constituents.

We move to question 3. Let us keep our questions and responses concise.