RAIL bosses are being urged to reduce fares from Dumfries.
South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has stepped up his campaign against massive rail fare hikes for local passengers.
Peak fares returned on ScotRail services this week and meant hikes of up to 211 per cent on some early morning rail journeys from the town.
Passengers travelling between Dumfries and Carlisle now pay £23.60 for a day return, compared to £7.60 before the increase.
Mr Smyth has accused ScotRail of discriminating against passengers travelling from the Dumfries station by failing to make the full range of tickets available to them – and he has proposed ways ticket prices could be reduced, including the introduction of the cheaper “Anytime Day Return’ ticket from Dumfries to Carlisle.
The MSP also believes that some journeys currently classed as peak should be re-classed as off-peak to bring them in line with other stations.
He flagged up the 7.58 am weekday service, which is classed as off-peak by the time it reaches Annan.
Colin Smyth said: “The new £23.60 peak return ticket from Dumfries to Carlisle is one of the most expensive ScotRail tickets per mile in the country. The fact that it is 211% higher than the off-peak fare shows what a complete rip-off it is and highlights the extent to which passengers from Dumfries are being discriminated against with the highest hikes in the country.
“To add insult to injury, tickets available at other stations such as an Anytime Day Return aren’t available in Dumfries for the journey to Carlisle.
“I want to see the axing of peak fares so we can get more people on our trains.
“I’m also pressing ScotRail bosses to bring down fares in Dumfries by making the full range of tickets available to local commuters and calling on them to be more consistent when it comes to what is and isn’t peak time.”
