THE SNP Scottish government has axed a pilot scheme to scrap peak fares on ScotRail — despite peak-time passenger numbers having soared by almost 40 per cent, Labour has said.

Peak fares will return today after SNP Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop axed a year-long trial, citing evidence that patronage had grown by just 6.8 per cent, short of the 10 per cent targeted to make the £40 million scheme self-financing.

And Aslef Scottish organiser Kevin Lindsay has blasted the return of peak fares as “a tax on workers,” arguing that commuters to Glasgow from Ms Hyslop’s Linlithgow consistency could be £166 per month worse off.