Commuters travelling between Aberdeen and Inverurie will see the price of their tickets drop by almost 20% from next month.
The cost of a return fare between the destinations during the morning rush hour will fall from £11.10 to £8.90 as part of a six-month trial to make ScotRail fares "cheaper and simpler".
It will see "peak-time" fares removed from routes across Scotland.
The pilot scheme, which is funded by the Scottish government, will run from Monday 2 October until the end of March next year.
Changing habits
One of the most significant impacts of the pandemic was to radically change the commuter market, with a significant drop in the number of people travelling during the traditional peak times. That market is only 70% of what it was before the pandemic, according to ScotRail.
It is expected that the trial will encourage more people to use ScotRail services, with cheaper fares early in the day attracting more people to consider travelling by rail.
ScotRail expects that some trains will be busier and will be monitoring services daily.
First of its kind
The ambitious project, which is a first of its kind in the UK rail industry, will support the Scottish Government’s ambition to achieve net zero, providing more people with the opportunity to use trains as their primary form of transport.
Alex Hynes, Scotland’s Railway Managing Director, said: “This is a hugely exciting opportunity for Scotland’s Railway to encourage more people across the country to choose rail travel instead of using the car.
“Everyone at ScotRail is working hard to make sure that this six-month trial will be a success, and we will be monitoring our services and stations daily to see where we have any significant increases in customer journeys.
“We know that cost and simplicity is a critical factor for people when they choose how to travel, and we are looking forward to delivering this fantastic fare reduction for our customers.”