NUS Scotland President Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan: ‘Peak fares are an unfair tax on students and apprentices’
NUS Scotland today condemned the announcement from the Scottish Government that peak rail fares are to be reintroduced.
NUS Scotland said the move will create a barrier to students and apprentices trying to access education and indicates Scottish Government disregard for Scotland’s trade union, environmental, and student movements whose campaigning on this issue led to the introduction of the trial scheme scrapping peak fares.
NUS research has shown that the cost of public transport has caused 21% of students to miss class and a further 7% to miss placement and that the cost of travel has prevented a third of young people from accessing education altogether.
NUS Scotland President Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan said:
“Peak fares are an unfair tax on students, apprentices and workers that discourage the use of environmentally friendly modes of travel. This is a step in the wrong direction from the Scottish Government.
Research has shown that the cost of travel has prevented a third of young people from accessing education. As students and apprentices return to college and university our leaders should be looking to remove barriers to education not putting up old ones.
Students, trade unionists and environmentalists stood together in their call for an end to peak fares, for the Scottish Government to stop listening now is a bitter disappointment. If they want to tackle the climate crisis and support Scotland’s students, apprentices and workers they must reverse this decision and permanently scrap peak rail fares.”
