SNP Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop has announced train fares across Scotland will rise by an inflation-busting 3.8 per cent next year.

The rise will come into force on April 1, while the extension of ScotRail’s flexipass ticket to cover 12 single journeys rather than 10 will continue.

Ms Hyslop, announcing the hike in response to parliamentary question today, said: “We want more people to choose to travel by public transport for work, study and leisure.

“But we know that people are still struggling with cost-of-living pressures and don’t always see public transport as affordable or attractive.

“That is why we have kept the rise this year as low as possible.”

Union and oppostion MSPs were however unconvinced an above inflation rise would deliver a shift to public transport.

Scottish Labour transport spokeswoman Claire Baker said: “This fare hike will hammer rail passengers and consign ScotRail to a spiral of decline.

“The SNP should be making rail more affordable but instead it has hit passengers with painful fare hikes time and time again.

“This increase is bad for Scotland’s rail passengers, bad for our economy and bad for the environment.”

Maryam Eslamdoust, genral secretary of rail union TSSA, said: “The Scottish government is taking passengers for a ride.

“At a time when they are slashing ticket office opening hours and delivering a poorer service, they are also hiking fares — forcing Scots to pay more while getting less.

“It’s nothing short of a disgrace. 

“That means keeping ticket offices open, investing in services, and freezing fares — not pricing passengers off the railway.

“If ministers are serious about encouraging people to switch from cars to public transport, they must make rail travel a more attractive option.”