'Obscenely' unfair Highland rail fares could force young talent south, Ross-shire entrepreneur warns
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AN award-winning Ross-shire entrepreneur whose work has been hailed by a Prime Minister and provided a boost to vulnerable women has warned "obscene" fares on train routes in the Highlands could force budding talent to quit the area.
Evanton-born Rachael Bews (27) was "outraged" after discovering a 34-mile train journey from her home in Fearn to Inverness for business would cost £30.40 return.
A 50-mile trip between Edinburgh and Glasgow costs as little as £10 return, by comparison.
Ms Bews, who recently moved to Fearn with her partner after spending five years in the central belt for work, was scandalised by the comparison.
"What incenses me is the disparity in fares as a Highland native," she said. "Having recently tried to re-settle and run my business here, obscene and unnecessary costs like these make it almost impossible to retain young people, talent and skills in the region. It's not fair that people in the Highlands have to pay more for services like public transport when we need them, if not more, at least as much as residents in the central belt. "
She confessed concerns about having to move back to the central belt and said she wants to raise awareness of the difficulties encountered by Highland residents.
She runs an ethical marketing company and is the co-founder of social venture ALICAS, which supports victims of domestic abuse by donating clothing gift boxes. She was named a Points of Light award-winner by former Prime Minister Teresa May.
She said:"I am very passionate about this region and I would love it to become a vibrant place for businesses to thrive, but at the moment the cost of life related to transport, fuel and the lack of adequate services makes it difficult for people to live here and to create opportunities for young people, many of which have little choice but to move away."
A ScotRail spokesperson said: “When setting fares, ScotRail takes many factors into consideration – the principle one being fare regulation, which impacts on 85 per cent of our business.
“Thereafter we look at variety of other factors, including market conditions, geography, service offering, and target markets. There is no direct relationship between fares and mileage or journey time, this was broken down before rail privatisation in the mid-1990s.”
Prices on a wide range of fares (such as anytime, off-peak and seasons) are regulated by the Scottish Government.
A spokesperson from the Scottish Government said: “We are committed to ensuring that rail fares are affordable for passengers and taxpayers across Scotland. We have capped increases where we have influence, making fares 20% cheaper on average than in the rest of Great Britain.
“While any fare increase is unwelcome, calls for measures such fares cuts or a fares freeze underestimate the impact of these on the public purse. Two-thirds of the cost of running the railway is already met through Scottish Government subsidy, with the remainder through rail passenger revenues. Any change to rail fares could therefore have a significant impact on the taxpayer.
“The ongoing UK-wide Williams review offers an opportunity to reform the broken rail franchise system. Rather than implement any measures prematurely, we await the UK Government’s white paper in the autumn before making fundamental change. This includes fares policy as we would need to understand how it would work within the context of any change to franchising.”
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