Description of the Options

The experience of the pilot was that significant changes to the ticketing system, online services and station barriers etc. require around 8 to 10 weeks to implement. As such, given the announcement in May 25, the focus of the options in this business case are those options that can be delivered in September 25. As such there is no consideration of future fare changes and these will be delivered as usual with the next standard point being the start of the financial year 2026-27.

As is standard practice consideration is first given to the issue of defining the Do-Minimum or Do-Something and in this case, it is straightforward given the nature of the project to define a Do-nothing only instead as:

Do-nothing – Keep the system in place as of May 25

In terms of option generation, the discussion of the constraints and issues above naturally gives rise to a number of potential options. The simplest option – Option 1 (Core) is to simply repeat the process undertaken for the pilot. In this case, the price of peak fares was adjusted to match those of off-peak fares and restrictions on each were removed and Super Off-peak tickets were also removed. Season tickets and Flexipasses were left in place with no price adjustment. This gives:

Option 1 – Core – Replicate the system put in place for the trial.

Thought then needs to be given to the other factors discussed above. The first consideration is around season tickets and flexi passes. The offer put in place has been extremely successful (see patronage diagram within Strategic Case) and there was evidence from the pilot that passengers still welcomed the convenience of bulk purchases. Whilst it is not strictly necessary to adjust the pricing of seasons and Flexipasses, it would be sensible to consider offering through them a small discount on the Core fares to reflect the reduced processing costs of multiple tickets and offer a small additional incentive. This would have benefits in terms of simplification and coherence of the system.

Option 2 – In addition to Option 1, reduce the price of season tickets and Flexipasses to offer a small (5%) discount on Core tickets.

There are potential sub-options of Option 2 in term of greater (or smaller) percentage discounts and these will be considered as part of the options appraisal below. Note that the discount is on the equivalent price of 5 journeys and is less generous that the current discount whilst peak fares are in place. Further discussion of the benefits of retaining season tickets are also discussed below.

The second ticketing issue is around the current time restrictions on Railcards and regional concessionary travel schemes. That gives rise to Option 3 which is simply to remove them. Whilst this would mean a further discount for those qualifying, it would match the spirit of the Programme for Government announcement. It is however made complicated by the fact that some rail cards are UK wide and the restrictions are not within the gift of Scottish Government. 

Option 3 - Add removal of Railcard/Concessions restrictions to Option 1

Combining these first three options gives Option 4 – the full removal of time based pricing (over the course of a single day).

Option 4 – Full removal - Add Option 2 and 3 to Option 1

Whilst it may be supposed that the intention of the announcement is to reduce the cost of travel for those who need to travel at peak times, an additional possible option is to explore reducing the cost to SG/Transport Scotland by increasing all the core fares by a range of percentage points from the current off-peak level. The implementation timeline means that it is only practical to examine the impact of flat percentage rises across all journey pairs.

Option 5 - Increase Core fares by various blanket %ages.

Another potential option is to reinstate Super Off-Peak fares in combination with any of Options 1 to 5.

Option 6 – Reinstate Super Off-Peak Fares in combination with Option 1-5

Rail fares are the result of historical changes and there are some disparities across the country with a perception that fares into Edinburgh and from Fife are more expensive than those in the west of the country. Whilst the removal of peak fares would be an opportunity to correct these differences, it would be a major undertaking and likely to incur additional costs (or winners and losers) so is not considered as a possible option within the timescale available.

Additional options not considered due to time constraints include Rationalisation of Day and Period returns and any consideration to changing the price of First Class tickets (which are already the same price all day).

This results in a long list of 6 options alongside the do-nothing:

  • Do-nothing – Retain the current system
  • Option 1 - Core change - remove peak fares and leave other fares/restrictions in place in line with pilot
  • Option 2 - Add seasons/flexis discount of 5% to Option 1
  • Option 3 - Add removal of Railcard/Concessions restrictions to Option 1
  • Option 4 – Full removal - Add Option 2 and 3 to Option 1
  • Option 5 - Increase Core fares by various blanket %ages.
  • Option 6 – Reinstate Super-Off Peak Fares in combination with Option 1-5

Shortlisting of options

Option 3 has significant implementation issues. Many railcards have terms and conditions that are set at UK level. As such while some restrictions could be removed it would not easily encompass all card types. This would add significantly to the complexity of the system and could be considered to be unfair as some groups could potentially gain but others would lose. The implementation including informing existing card holders would be difficult. Regardless, in retaining the restrictions there are still further discounts on the Core price available for the times railcards are currently valid.

As such this option is sifted out at this point and this removes Option 4 as well. Those with National Entitlement Cards residing within Fife and SPT local authority areas and Young Scot card holders would still be able to access the reduced core prices if they need to travel at formerly peak time and will remain eligible for further discounts if travelling withing the current timing restrictions.

This gives 4 remaining options to be assessed against the Do-nothing:

  • Option 1 - Core change - remove peak fares and leave other fares/restrictions in place in line with pilot
  • Option 2 - Add seasons/flexis discount of 5% to Option 1
  • Option 5 - Increase Core fares by various blanket %ages.
  • Option 6 – Reinstate Super Off-Peak Fares in combination with Option 1-5