New plans have been announced to introduce a railcard that could save commuters over £100.
Ahead of the May 7 election, the Scottish Greens have today pledged to introduce a new Green Commuter Railcard, which they claim will cost £35 a year and save cardholders one third on all of their journeys.
Currently, rail discounts in Scotland are delivered through a range of railcards that are tied to specific age groups or circumstances. The Scottish Greens say that the Commuter Card would be in addition to these, with anyone eligible to buy one.
The card would be modelled on the existing Network Railcard in the South East of England, which is designed to encourage regular travellers to take the train rather than drive and saves average cardholders £154 a year.
Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer said: “Scotland has some of the most expensive trains in Europe. That cost is stopping a lot of regular commuters from choosing rail. That’s why the Scottish Greens abolished peak rail fares and it's why we will introduce a Green Commuter Card.
"This card will immediately bring down the cost of catching the train, putting money back in people's pockets and helping them to leave the car at home. It will also cut costs for families and people who simply want to explore Scotland but are put off by the eye-watering costs."
Meanwhile, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have vowed to “fight any attempt” by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK to introduce fracking in Scotland.
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton made clear his opposition to the practice, warning if allowed it could see “our beautiful countryside torn up for a failed experiment that has caused earthquakes and pollution elsewhere”.
While powers to licence fracking having been devolved to the Scottish Government, Cole-Hamilton raised concerns Reform UK could push for the controversial practice.
He added: “People deserve to know about Reform UK’s plans to drill under homes and countryside right across the central belt.
“Let me be clear, the Scottish Liberal Democrats will fight any attempt to introduce fracking in Scotland. We will oppose it in our communities, in the Scottish Parliament and in every corner of this country.
“A vote for the Scottish Liberal Democrats is a vote for change with fairness at its heart and to help you with the cost of living, insulating cold homes and using Scottish renewable energy to drive down household bills.”
In response, a Reform UK spokesperson said: “This is just scaremongering from an irrelevant party.
“We suggest the Lib Dems do Scotland a favour and frack off with this sort of nonsense.”
Elsewhere, John Swinney has pledged that his SNP will always stand with workers in the energy sector.
The First Minister insisted: “It is Scotland’s energy and it should be in Scotland’s hands. Westminster control of Scotland’s energy is crippling investment, risking up to 1,000 jobs a month and putting our energy security at risk – just this week BP has reported they are considering leaving the North Sea.”
It comes as reports at the weekend indicated that the energy giant has begun an internal review of its North Sea operations, though no final decision had been made. However, Swinney said he is “very concerned” by the situation.
He pledged to “stand by” workers in the energy sector, including in the renewables sector and those involved in its supply chain, where concerns have been raised in the past about Scotland missing out on work supplying the parts for turbines.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “We’ve set out a plan for the North Sea to become the clean energy powerhouse of Britain, backed by record investment to grow these industries in Scotland.
“This will protect jobs now and create the next generation of skilled roles, including over 40,000 new clean energy jobs in Scotland by 2030.”
Additionally, Anas Sarwar has pledged that a Scottish Labour government would fix the mess, get the basics right and build a better future for Scotland.
The party said that "a vote for Labour is the route to rejecting Reform, beating the SNP and changing Scotland."
They have pledged to cut childcare costs, help with bills, create jobs and opportunities with 9,000 new apprenticeships and put community police back into neighbourhoods and fix the roads with a £350 million potholes fund.
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