A FIFE MSP has welcomed what he calls an "embarrassing defeat" for the Scottish Government over their plans to reintroduce peak fares on ScotRail services.

Parliamentarians passed an amendment put forward by Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alex Rowley calling for the decision to be reversed by 64 votes to 62.

The non-binding motion on peak fares had called on the Scottish Government to reverse its decision to reintroduce peak fares on Scotland’s railways and that the Scottish Parliament agreed that “making public transport more accessible, affordable and reliable is key to supporting more people to use public transport.”

The ScotRail peak fare suspension pilot, which started in October last year, saw passengers saving hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds in commuting costs and helped increase passenger numbers by 6.8 per cent.

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Mr Rowley said that the rise came despite the ScotRail timetable being hit with delays and cancellations that knocked commuter confidence in the reliability of train services.

He has consistently called for the permanent removal of peak fares, calling them a “tax on workers”, and has also been raising his concerns with ScotRail services in Fife with Managing Director of ScotRail, Joanne Maguire.

“The SNP are determined to paint the peak fares suspension pilot as a failure when we saw an increase of 6.8% in rail users during a time of unprecedented chaos and mismanagement on the rail," he said.

“It has already been revealed that the scheme was not advertised properly at the start for fears of overcrowding and the interim report was delayed due to bad weather having an impact on the statistics so the idea that it would have achieved all its goals just one year on is ridiculous.

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“The SNP are simply using this as an excuse to dump a genuinely positive proposal because their financial mismanagement has left them desperately clawing for cash to fill the economic black hole.

“If we are serious about shifting people out of cars and onto public transport, we must make it affordable, accessible and available – moves like this will simply push more people to use cars as driving remains the cheapest way to commute to work."

Mr Rowley said he was also "struggling" with the idea of people being expected to pay more for a "substandard service" on a reduced timetable.

He added: "Constituents across Fife have been contacting me regarding the overcrowding on trains due to the reduced timetable and trains coming with only a couple of carriages at peak times.

“I have written to ScotRail and called on them and the Scottish Government to get a grip of the situation and provide the rail service that the people of Scotland deserve.”

Responding to the vote, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said the scrapping of peak rail fares had led to an extra four million rail journeys taking place.

She said: “This is in the context of around five billion annual private car journeys in Scotland and represents a reduction of less than 0.1 per cent of car-based carbon emissions.”

Evidence suggests the pilot benefited those of above-average income, she said.

Ms Hyslop added: “I wanted the pilot to succeed and I am disappointed it has not, but the moderate increase in passenger levels, while welcome, was significantly below the 10 per cent increase needed to make the scheme self-financing.”

She said discounts were available on ScotRail season tickets which can save commuters money, she said.