LOW-INCOME Fifers are being "priced off the railways" an MSP has warned after it was announced that commuters may face a hike in fares.

Those travelling on the railway could be dealing with a 1.6 per cent increase in season tickets from as early as January.

It means that a season ticket from Dunfermline to Edinburgh will now cost £1,881.63 – an increase of £29.63.

The annual rise in most regulated fares is linked to the previous July’s Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation, which was announced by the Office for National Statistics earlier this week.

Labour MSP Alex Rowley stressed that the high fares were hitting those on low incomes unfairly and said it was inappropriate for the Scottish Government to increase fares at this "precarious" time.

“Railways are no longer affordable for people with low incomes because they are beyond the reach of their finances and that’s a scandalous situation to be in," he said.

“Unless you have a fairly high income, you are being priced off the railways and that’s the reality.

“We need to start looking at public transport as a public transport service rather than just something that is run for profit.

"Especially in the current circumstances where more and more people are struggling financially and our economy is in a precarious situation – it would be completely inappropriate for the Scottish Government to increase rail fares. I urge them to think hard before doing so.

"Year after year, we see increased rail fares and no better service – it needs to stop and we need to see a proper public rail transport system put in place.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser believes increasing the cost of rail fares will “not help” encourage Fife commuters to start using public transport again following the COVID-19 lockdown.

He said: "The reality is that many rail commuters in Fife have suffered a shoddy service through cancellations of trains, services running late and many trains being overcrowded.

“So, to ask Fife commuters to pay an increase in rail fares in light of this seems unreasonable.

“There are very big challenges facing people using public transport just now such as having to wear face-coverings – increasing rail fares is not going to help encourage people back on public transport.”

It is understood ministers are considering delaying the 2021 rise due to low passenger numbers as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Scottish Government, as well as their UK and Welsh counterparts, regulate rises for around half of fares, including season tickets on most commuter routes, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance journeys and tickets for travel around major cities at any time.

Despite the rise, Transport Scotland bosses say ScotRail fares are, on average, 20 per cent cheaper than those across the rest of the UK.

Gavin Yates, founder of the Fairness for Fife Commuters Campaign, told the Press: “At a time when many folk in West Fife are struggling financially, this amounts to a slap in the face for commuters.

"Also, it’s worth pointing out that many of those who are forced to use the trains are the same key workers that were quite rightly heralded as heroes.”

Meanwhile, data from Bankrate has calculated that commuters who usually bought weekly season tickets from Dunfermline to Edinburgh have saved £926 over 20 weeks and those who usually bought monthly season tickets have saved £711.20 over four months.

A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that rail fares are affordable for passengers and taxpayers across Scotland.

“We have taken action to keep fares down and ScotRail fare are still, on average, 20 per cent cheaper than those across the rest of the UK.

“We are currently in the process of considering the options regarding future fares and tickets in relation to today’s announcement on the July RPI figure as part of the wider rail recovery work post the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UK Government Department for Transport figures show rail travel is below a third of what it was before the crisis despite lockdown restrictions easing.

All revenue and cost risks from train companies were transferred to the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments in March to avoid franchises collapsing. This has already cost taxpayers at least £3.5 billion.