Refund cost of our useless season tickets!

SCOTLAND’s rail company was last night under pressure to refund commuters who bought season tickets but have now lost their regular train service.

Around a third of Scotland’s rail services will be slashed from tomorrow, just weeks after the Scottish Government took ScotRail into public ownership.

Commuters heading to and from work in Scotland’s biggest cities will be among the worst affected, with many earliest and latest trains among the 700 services a day to be axed. Annual season tickets between Glasgow and Edinburgh can cost up to £4,432, with frequent passengers expecting to pay as much as £5,248 if travelling from outlying stations, such as Ayr.

Last night, Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: ‘Scots up and down the country will have bought expensive season and annual rail tickets on the understanding that a full timetable would be running.

‘Now, suddenly, many of the services they rely on have been cancelled indefinitely.

‘With prices for annual tickets running into the thousands of pounds, it’s only right that the SNP ensure refunds are offered to those people who now find their tickets useless.’

Jill Reilly, Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, said: ‘For all their talk about the climate emergency and the importance of public transport, this Government have just made it much harder to leave the car at home.

‘For shift workers in particular this must be a hellish prospect.

‘The Scottish Government should be refunding season tickets for those now unable to travel on their preferred service.’

A ScotRail spokesman said: ‘You can seek a refund with no additional admin fee, with details on how to do so on our website.’