Up to four children will be able to travel for free on ScotRail trains with every adult this weekend, as the rail franchise comes back into public ownership.
To celebrate the transition, children will be able to ride the trains for free on Saturday and Sunday if accompanied by a fee-paying adult.
On Friday, the franchise transfers from Dutch firm Abellio into public ownership.
Abellio has been running ScotRail since 2015 but it has faced criticism over performance levels.
Its contract is being brought to an end three years early, having been due to last until 2025.
Transport minister Jenny Gilruth said: “Bringing ScotRail passenger services under public control and ownership puts passengers and staff at the heart of Scotland’s rail services.
“It’s a historic occasion and one that marks a key milestone in our ambitious Programme for Government to support a greener, fairer Scotland.
“This is an opportunity to deliver a railway which is for the benefit of the people of Scotland and everyone who travels by rail – customers, staff and stakeholders, not shareholders.
“The national conversation that gets under way this spring will provide an opportunity for staff, passengers and communities to have their say in how we shape Scotland’s railway and ScotRail in particular.
“To celebrate this transition, under the banner It’s Yours to Use, we are providing free travel on April 2 and 3 for up to four children with every fare-paying adult.
“We are encouraging everyone who can to travel by rail this weekend to show our pride in Scotland’s railway and our support for those who work hard to operate it on daily basis.”
No longer will there be private shareholders receiving dividends or any profits from Scotland's railway
Timetables will remain the same as planned and train livery is not changing, though the word Abellio will be removed from signs and printed materials.
A publicly-owned company called ScotRail Trains Limited will operate train services, overseen by a public body called Scottish Rail Holdings.
The RMT will be holding a rally outside Glasgow’s Queen Street railway station on Friday and ahead of the protest Mick Hogg, the union’s Scotland director, welcomed the renationalisation of the network.
“No longer will there be private shareholders receiving dividends or any profits from Scotland’s railway, so in that sense we believe there a great opportunity for Scotland’s railway to receive the proper investment that it deserves,” he told Good Morning Scotland.
Mr Hogg said the transport minister was “ticking all the right boxes as far as the RMT is concerned and she does not want an industrial strife”, he told the BBC Radio Scotland programme.
But, he added, he didn’t see it as “unreasonable” for his members, who he said deserved medals for their work through the pandemic, “to receive a fair pay increase”.
“Our members are telling me loud and clear that we deserve and want a decent pay increase,” he told the broadcaster.
We need to start to change things otherwise what's the point in all this?
On the same programme Graham Simpson, the Scottish Conservatives’ transport spokesman, called for a plan of action for railways north of the border within six months.
“We need to start to change things otherwise what’s the point in all this? We need quick action because, at the end of the day, we want to encourage people to start using trains, we want to get people back on the trains and out of their cars,” he said.
“Jenny Gilruth needs to say what it is she wants to do and so far she has not said that,” said the MSP, who told the BBC he had “no philosophical objection to ScotRail coming under public ownership”.
“Fares are going up, we have got fewer services, and there are plans to close ticket offices,” he said.
“What we need is a clear plan and (we have not had) that from the SNP so far so I’m looking forward to sitting down with Jenny Gilruth and talking through some ideas.
“We do not want a conversation, as she describes it, that will just kick the can down the road for months. We need a plan of action that will actually encourage people to get back on the trains. We haven’t had that so far.”
