Scots and UK ministers accused over 'discriminatory' half price rail ticket offer

Some have said it could be in breach of a legal duty for public bodies not to discriminate on age or disability.

A similar half price offer was announced by the UK government two days ago,  The offer website operated by the Rail Delivery Group described as Great British Rail Sale also introduced as an "online only" sale.

State-controlled ScotRail announced that next month it will slash 50% off all off-peak services between any two stations in Scotland, Monday to Friday, to encourage people across the country to return to Scotland’s Railway.

The offer, which had been due to take place in January but was postponed due to the rise in Omicron cases, was billed as the latest ‘Yours to Use’ initiative from the train operator to "welcome customers back as it looks to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

The 50 per cent off tickets will only be available to purchase online via a dedicated booking link to be published on the ScotRail website.

The ScotRail announcement is an advance notice of an offer that will be available to purchase from May so it isn’t actually on sale as yet.

Between May 9 and 15 inclusive a Spring Sale booking link will be available from the ScotRail website only to enable the purchase of half price tickets.

Some rail campaigners have said that restricting the offer to online potentially discriminates against digitally excluded groups including older people, who may not use computers or mobile devices.

 Age Scotland chief executive Brian Sloan said:  "It's just not on for a public service such as our railways to exclude hundreds of thousands of people in our country who don't and can't use the internet.

"Older people, those on low income or in poverty and people who are disabled are among those least likely to be online but will be shut out of this nationwide initiative. In the most deprived parts of Scotland around half of over 60s aren't digitally connected and there are 140,000 adults without a bank account so schemes like this need to be much better thought through.

"Rather than manufacturing barriers for huge numbers of people, ScotRail should be seeking to include everyone in their services. Government ministers should step in and make the right changes to open this up to all.

"There are serious questions about whether this is in breach of the public sector equalities duty and is discriminatory."

He added: "Public services should be much more considerate about how these decisions exacerbate inequalities in our society and seek to include everyone rather than throwing up barriers, but sadly this is rarely the case.

"While a digital-only offering might be far simpler to administer, it’s just not on and ill judged.

"It’s not too late to change this and we would encourage Scottish ministers to step in and ensure that everyone has equal access to this kind of service.”

The Public Sector Equality Duty,  created under the Equality Act 2010  requires public bodies to have "due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities".

Scottish Conservative shadow transport secretary Graham Simpson said: “ScotRail’s limited discount scheme is already unravelling less than 24 hours after it was unveiled.

"Not only is it a pale imitation of what is on offer elsewhere in the UK, it now runs the risk of excluding people who don’t have online access.

“This seems a major oversight especially for rural and remote passengers seeking to take advantage of the offers Scotrail have been talking up.

“It doesn’t bode well that the now state-run rail network might have forgotten to ensure that there were a range of ways people could buy these offers and not just on the internet.

“That will only mean even fewer passengers returning to our trains given this scheme is already watered-down in Scotland.”

The move comes two days after it was announced by the UK government that prices of train tickets were to be cut by as much as half in April and May in other services to ease the burden of the cost of living crisis.

The sale of off-peak tickets, was said to be the first of its kind, and had been dubbed the Great British Rail Sale, with the Transport Secretary saying more than one million fares will be slashed this spring.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is hoping the move will help hard-pressed households, who are facing rising bills and soaring inflation, to afford trips across the UK and boost domestic tourism.

In a video to promote the sale, Grant Shapps hailed the end of coronavirus restrictions and said: “We’ve had two years of living life virtually. It is time to get real and visit our beautiful country.”

In the ScotRail launch, transport minister Jenny Gilruth said: "This is one of the first commitments from the SNP Scottish Government since taking Scotrail into public hands and will encourage more people to use Scotland’s railways as we emerge from the pandemic.

“Scotland’s rail fares are already 20% cheaper than anywhere else in the UK. This change will see commuters making huge savings across Scotland’s network, which will take the pressure off families during the Tory made cost of living crisis."

The move has been hailed by the Scottish Greens as an opportunity to “support people as the Tory cost of living crisis bites”.

Outward travel must be undertaken between May 9 and May 31 inclusive and return travel must be completed by June 30.

It will mean an off-peak return between Glasgow and Edinburgh will cost just £9.55, while a return between Inverness and Aberdeen will cost £23.85.

A day return will cost £5.85 between Glasgow and Ayr or Galashiels and Edinburgh.

The Department of Transport passed inquiries onto the Rail Delivery Group.  Transport Scotland said it was for ScotRail to comment.

The UK government's Department for Transport announcement.