Jenny Marra MSP : Commuters are victims of an unfair "Tay Tax"
20 July 2012
Jenny Marra MSP has called for action on the cost of rail tickets on journeys heading north of the Tay.
The Dundee-based MSP has written to transport minister Keith Brown expressing her concern at the price of tickets connecting Dundee to other major cities in Scotland.
Dundee is not featured in the ‘regulated zone’ which benefits commuters around Glasgow and Edinburgh.
This has led to a complicated pricing system which means it is often cheaper to buy multiple tickets for different legs of a journey.
Commenting on the unfair pricing policy, Jenny said,
“Everyone knows that train fares in and out of Dundee are far too high.
“This is because Dundee has never been included in the subsidised zone.
“The government needs to tell us why they are subsidising train fares round Glasgow and Edinburgh but there is a Tay Tax to get over the Tail rail bridge.
“The zone’s purpose is to encourage economic investment.
“Surely with the rates of unemployment in Dundee, we would then qualify by any standards to get a rail fare subsidy like other cities.
“It’s high time Dundee got its share of that subsidy, so we can bring more visitors and investment to our city.
“The government is investing money in the new V&A at the waterfront.
“They should look seriously at rail fares to Dundee as part of this overall strategy because we’ll attract many more visitors and potential businesses to our city if we get fairer rail fares like the other cities in Scotland.”