COMMUTERS in Clacks will be facing a 62 per cent hike in rail prices, with the news that ScotRail will be reintroducing peak fares next week.

The SNP Government had trialled a one-year long pilot scheme which saw the removal of peak fares to encourage more people to travel by train.

However, this decision was reversed, with the government insisting they hadn’t seen a marked improvement on rail figures to justify no peak fares.

For residents leaving Alloa, this will mean a 62 per cent jump for a ticket to Glasgow, now coming in at as much as £18.40 for an anytime day return.

Fiona Hyslop, cabinet secretary for transport, said: “My ministerial colleagues and I understand the end of this pilot will be disappointing for many rail users, particularly those who cannot choose when they travel to and from work.

“While the peak fares removal pilot was a welcome incentive over the last 12 months, analysis has shown it would have required a 10 per cent increase in passenger numbers for the policy to be self-financing, and a more significant modal shift.

“The Scottish Government would be open to consider future subsidy to remove peak fares should UK budget allocations improve in future years.”

The news has come as a disappointment to many morning commuters, with criticisms going towards workers seemingly being punished for the time they have to take the train.

Several Clacks politicians have slammed the decision, who called for the SNP to reconsider their decision.

Mark Ruskell, Green MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said: “A lot of people in Clacks will have had an unpleasant surprise when they went to pay for their rail tickets and saw that the prices are higher than ever.

“Peak rail fares are fundamentally unfair. They disproportionately impact people who have no say over when they need to travel for work or study.

“Bringing them back will do nothing to help workers or students or to encourage people out of their cars.

“Many regular commuters from Clackmannanshire have saved hundreds of pounds on their fares over the last year, and some of the rises they will now face are staggering.

“I hope that the SNP will reconsider this decision, and that we will see peak fares removed permanently.”

His works were echoed by Alexander Stewart, Tory MSP for the area, who insisted this would only be the start of the decline of Scotland's public transport network.

He added: “The SNP’s decision to reintroduce peak fares across ScotRail trains is a kick in the teeth to long-suffering train users and punishes our hard-working passengers who will now have to pay hundreds if not thousands more to commute to work.

"Even the nationalists’ own Transport Secretary admitted that their party’s decision to re-introduce peak fares will cost hard working Scots ‘thousands of pounds’

"Under the SNP, public transport has become unreliable and far too expensive; unless considerable action is taken our public transport network will only continue to decline.

"The Scottish Conservatives would permanently scrap peak rail fares to ease the burden on hard working Scots.”