A Mearns councillor has called for train fares to be rationalised to put an end to what he described as “nonsense.”
Peter Bellarby said that there were numerous anomalies that presented a confusing situation to travellers who were often put off travelling by train as a result.
Mr Bellarby said he was recently left out of pocket after travelling from Stonehaven to the Liberal Democrats conference in Dundee.
He said: “Railways are a crucial part of public transport. Greater use of public transport is vital in tackling climate change.
“I travelled from my home in Stonehaven to the conference by train.
“I found that a single ticket from Aberdeen to Dundee, that you pay if you just turn up on the day and buy, is close to twice the cost of such a ticket from Stonehaven to Dundee, even though the distance is not much less.
“Could I get a cheaper ticket by booking ahead and getting an advance ticket, which is restricted to a particular service which you must use?
“If I want to travel from Aberdeen, the answer is yes and the cost can be quite a bit cheaper. Can I do the same from Stonehaven, using services provided by ScotRail? The answer is no.
“Using services provided by East Coast Trains, the answer is no.
“If using services provided by Cross Country Trains, the answer is, apparently, yes. However, for my journey to conference, I found the cost of such a supposedly cheap ticket was much more than the cost of a ticket that you can just turn up and buy and use on any train service of any operator. What nonsense.”
Mr Bellarby said there is a way around the problem.
He added: “Just buy a ticket from Aberdeen to Stonehaven and another from Stonehaven to Dundee and you save quite a bit.
“You can buy both tickets at the ticket office in Aberdeen, too. If you are travelling from Stonehaven, it seems you can’t get any advantage of booking ahead.
“Very annoying, especially when you find out that there are cheap advance tickets from Stonehaven to places like Leuchars and even Inverkeithing that are cheaper than the fare you are forced to pay when going to Dundee.
“Isn’t all this a nonsense? Rationalisation is clearly called for and, I would have thought, be in the interests of train operating companies who would have more passengers.”
Train passengers are in line to make significant fare savings after a deal was struck between the Government and the rail industry to make sensitive ticket data freely available.
An app called Tickety-Split developed by Martin Lewis, founder and editor of the MoneySavingExpert.com website can find split-ticket deals.
However, the release of the Darwin data is expected to make a raft of such apps available, industry sources said.
Steve Howes, managing director of Rail Settlement Plan, which is owned by Britain’s franchised rail operators, said the release of the data would help the industry keep pace with developing technological trends.