Last updated: 20 December 2023
Going by train is on with Off-Peak fares all day, every day until 28 June 2024.
The trial, which is funded by the Scottish Government and launched on 2 October 2023, aims to make public transport more accessible and affordable, and encourage people to ditch the car and travel by train.
We recognise the rail fare structure can seem complicated and often a barrier for customers, and this trial makes rail fares simpler, and often cheaper.
What does this mean for customers?
Customers can travel at any time of the day on Off-Peak tickets, enjoying huge savings. For example, train tickets for travel during traditional peak times between Edinburgh and Glasgow have dropped* from £28.90 to £14.90.
Examples of some of the other savings* on routes in and out of the main cities include:
- Inverkeithing – Edinburgh £11.10 to £6.50
- Perth – Dundee £14.40 to £9.90
- Glasgow – Stirling £16.10 to £9.60
- Inverurie – Aberdeen £11.10 to £8.90
- Inverness – Elgin £22.00 to £14.40
*Savings apply to Anytime Day Return fares from before the trial started on 2 October 2023.
There are some routes where no Off-Peak fare exists because the same price is available at any time of the day, and as such, customers will not see any change in those areas.
Flexipass and Season Ticket prices have not changed. As Off-Peak fares are now valid all day it may be cheaper for you to purchase a ticket each day. If you have a weekly season, or your Season Ticket does not have long until it expires, or if you have a Flexipass with only a few journeys remaining, simply switch to buying daily tickets after your your season runs out or your journeys are used up on your current Flexipass.
mTickets are the quickest, most convenient way to buy and use daily rail tickets. Single and Return tickets can be purchased as mTickets through the ScotRail app and are available instantly.
If your Season Ticket is for a longer period or you have a lot of journeys left on your Flexipass, you can apply for a free-of-charge refund on the remaining value. Find out how to apply for a refund here.
Should I get a daily ticket or a Season Ticket?
We've designed a Season Ticket Calculator to allow customers who travel by train regularly on the same route to compare the cost of a daily return ticket to the cost of a Season Ticket, helping you find the best-value rail ticket to suit your needs.
By telling us the number of days you plan to travel per week, and the length of ticket you want to commit to, we can calculate the best value tickets for your journey from the following:
- Anytime Day Return
- Weekly Season
- Monthly Season
- Annual Season
Where there are no Anytime Day Return fares available, the Calculator will only return the Season Tickets for that journey.
We anticipate the trial will encourage more people to use ScotRail services, with cheaper fares early in the day attracting more people to consider travelling by rail.
We have every available carriage out on the network, with seven or eight carriage services operating during traditional peak hours on the Edinburgh-Glasgow via Falkirk High route, and additional carriages between Airdrie and Balloch, and on the Argyle Line. We do not have any more diesel trains to increase capacity on the routes where they operate, for example between Glasgow/Edinburgh and Aberdeen/Dundee/Inverness.
To help you plan your journey, we have pulled together a list of our busiest services across our network, and we are updating this throughout the trial.
The ambitious project, which is a first of its kind in the UK rail industry, will support the Scottish Government’s ambition to achieve net zero, providing more people with the opportunity to use trains as their primary form of transport.
Buying train tickets during the trial
We expect more people travelling during the trial, which means ticket offices and ticket machines are likely to be busier. With that in mind, we recommend customers download the ScotRail app to buy Single and Returns as mTickets, which are available to download instantly.
Our booking systems have been updated with all the new prices.
Frequently Asked Questions
This trial is a first of its kind in the UK, so we appreciate there will be lots of questions. If you can’t find the answer on above, try the FAQs section below…
This section is all about ScotRail ticket types.
Off-Peak Single and Return tickets are valid for travel all day, any day. The time restrictions for Off-Peak tickets won’t apply for the duration of the trial. This means, during the trial, Off-Peak tickets are available for travel on any train.
For some journeys (for example between Dunbar and Edinburgh or those crossing the Scottish border) the fares are controlled by other train operators, so we are unable to change those.
Where a journey has no current Off-Peak fare, customers will not see any change.
For the duration of the trial, the Super Off-Peak Day Return ticket has been withdrawn and customers will not be able to purchase these during this time. We’re doing this to provide a clear message that tickets no longer have time restrictions on when you can travel.
If you have already bought a Super Off-Peak Day Return ticket for travel during the trial, this ticket will still be honoured, although the time restrictions of this ticket will still apply.
Anytime tickets are reduced to the same level as the equivalent Off-Peak fare.
As this is a limited time trial, customers will still see this ticket type online. However, you will not pay any more than the equivalent Off-Peak fare.
Season Ticket prices have not changed. As Off-Peak fares are now valid all day it may be cheaper for you to purchase a ticket each day. If you have a weekly season, or your Season Ticket does not have long until it expires, simply switch to buying daily tickets after your season runs out.
mTickets are the quickest, most convenient way to buy and use daily rail tickets. Single and Return tickets can be purchased as mTickets through the ScotRail app and are available instantly..
If your Season Ticket is for a longer period, you can apply for a free-of-charge refund on the remaining value. Find out how to apply for a refund here.
Flexipass prices have not changed. As Off-Peak fares are now valid all day it may be cheaper for you to purchase a ticket each day you travel. If you have only a few journeys remaining on your current Flexipass, simply switch to buying daily tickets after your journeys are used up.
If you would like to apply for a free-of-charge refund on the remaining value, you can apply for a refund here.
For the duration of the trial, Kids for a Quid tickets, which allow up to four children to travel for £1 return each with a fare paying adult, are valid for travel all day, any day.
For the duration of the trial, GroupSave tickets and Group Travel discounts are valid for travel all day, any day.
Where there is an Off-Peak fare in First Class, this ticket will now be valid for travel all day, any day.
This section is all about questions relating to railcards, including National Railcards, National Entitlement Cards, Club 50 etc.
The terms and conditions of National Railcards are not controlled by ScotRail, so we are unable to change these. Where a National Railcard dictates a minimum fare for travel during peak times - such as the 16-25, 26-30, and Veterans Railcard – this minimum fare will still apply. However, you can still benefit from reduced fares when travelling at peak times as Off-Peak tickets are valid all day.
Where a National Railcard terms and conditions dictate that you cannot travel during the peak – such as Two Together and Senior Railcards - these time restrictions will still apply.
For the duration of the trial, those with Young Scot National Entitlement Cards can make use of the reduced fares all day long, as we have removed the minimum fare which usually applies to travel during the morning peak. We have been able to remove this minimum fare as the terms and conditions of the Young Scot card are controlled by ScotRail.
For the duration of the trial, those with local authority National Entitlement cards can travel with a rail concessionary fare at any time of day.
For the duration of the trial, Club 50 members get even better value as your discounted Off-Peak tickets are valid for travel all day, any day.
This section is all about questions relating to combined tickets such as Rail & Sail, and travel passes such as the Spirit of Scotland.
For the duration of the trial, the rail element of your ticket will have any time restriction removed.
For the duration of the trial, the rail element of your ticket will have any time restriction removed.
For the duration of the trial, the rail element of your Spirit of Scotland travel passes is valid for travel all day, any day.
For the duration of the trial, the rail element of your Scottish Grand Tour travel passes is valid for travel all day, any day.
For the duration of the trial, the rail element of your Highland Rover tickets is valid for travel all day, any day.
For the duration of the trial, the rail element of your Central Scotland Rover tickets is valid for travel all day, any day.
This section is all about questions related to searching for tickets online via ScotRail’s App or website booking engine.
Our booking systems have been updated, displaying the reduced fares for travel from 2 October 2023.
No. The Anytime tickets have already been reduced to the same level as the equivalent Off-Peak fare so the ticket price you see is already the reduced fare.
You can buy any ticket, either Anytime or Off-Peak for the duration of the trial as Anytime tickets have been reduced to Off-Peak prices, and Off-Peak tickets have the time restrictions removed, meaning you can travel all day, any day.
The section is about questions relating to refunds during the peak fares removal trial.
If your Season Ticket expires after 2 October 2023, you can apply free-of-charge for full or partial refund.
If you have journeys left on your Flexipass after 2 October 2023, you can apply free-of-charge for full or partial refund.
The section is all about questions relating to the trial itself.
The Scottish Government is funding this trial.
To encourage more people to consider rail as a preferable and more sustainable mode of transport.
The trial is scheduled from 2 October 2023 until 28 June 2024.
The trial will come to an end and peak fares will be restored from Monday, 1 July. We will then take some time to review the impact of the trial with the Scottish Government and update customers on the long-term plans for fares.
*Savings apply to Anytime Day Return fares from before the trial started on 2 October 2023.