Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer has urged the Scottish Government to allow flexipass rail tickets to more routes, helping more people in Renfrewshire to save money on their commute.
ScotRail currently only offers flexible season tickets when one of the two stations travelled between has ticket gates. Only 5% of all Scotrail stations have these gates, meaning constituents traveling to or from most stations are left to pay full price.
Ross Greer has now written to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, urging her to allow flexipass tickets at non-gated stations. If delivered, commuters from stations across Renfrewshire would save up to a third on their rail fare.
In 2023 Mr Greer secured the removal of peak time rail fares from Scotrail services for a year. Despite this change boosting passenger numbers by ten million and saving commuters hundreds of pounds, the Scottish Government decided to bring back peak fares in October 2024.
At the time, the Government pointed towards options such as the flexipass to help commuters save, despite it being limited to very few stations.
Mr. Greer said, “It is just daft for ScotRail to prevent local commuters from using cheaper tickets because they are traveling between stations without ticket gates. Only 5% of stations are gated and they are almost all in city centres.
“This is an unfair additional cost for local travellers, which is why I’ve urged the Cabinet Secretary to allow flexipasses in all stations.
“Commuters saved hundreds of pounds when the Scottish Greens got rid of peak rail fares in 2023. I was disappointed when the Scottish Government decided to bring peak fares back, particularly when they claimed using the flexipass was an alternative. That’s not the case at 95% of stations.
“To help with the cost of living and to tackle the climate crisis we need to make it easier and cheaper to use the train in Scotland. I hope the Scottish Government will agree to this change as soon as possible.”