ScotRail to end free electric car charging across Ayrshire

From January, 8, there will be a tariff for all their charging points in Scotland - including their six in Ayrshire, located in Ayr, Troon, Girvan, Dalry, Glengarnock, and Kilmarnock stations.

The company said the electric vehicle charging tariff would bring the train operator into line with other service providers in Scotland.  

The provision of free charging at ScotRail stations helped promote the use of electric cars while reducing carbon emissions, however, providing it free of charge costs the train operator around £700,000 per year.  

The new charge of 43 pence per kilowatt hour is similar to most local authorities and is in the bottom third of tariffs on the ChargePlace Scotland Network.  

It is expected that introducing the charges will discourage non-rail users from blocking the locations, something that has been a regular complaint from customers. 

The charges are aimed solely at helping ScotRail to recover the cost to the taxpayer of operating the charging points, with no profit being made from the tariff.  

A fixed overstay payment of £12 per 12 hours will apply, and while this will help to discourage people blocking access to others, customers will also be entitled to a refund if a train delay has been the cause of the overstay.  

David Lister, ScotRail Director of Safety, Engineering, and Sustainability said:  “We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible journey experience, and improving the availability of electric vehicle charging points is one of the ways we can do that.  

“One of the main complaints we receive is that the charging points at our car parks are currently being blocked by vehicles overstaying, and the tariff from January 8, 2024 will help to remove that issue.  

“It is important that ScotRail delivers the best possible value to taxpayers and the charging tariff will ensure that we recover the cost of operating them, allowing funds to be spent on improving rail services.”