MSPs Alex Rowley and Claire Baker have backed calls for a fare freeze for all ScotRail passengers after more delays and cancellations on the tracks last week.

A rail fare rise planned for January should be cancelled and a yearlong freeze on fares introduced. That is the proposal being put to the Scottish Government by Scottish Labour this week and First Minster Nicola Sturgeon has said she will consider the proposal.

Speaking this week to the Times, Scottish Labour deputy leader Alex Rowley said that rail passengers in Scotland could save nearly £100 on key commuter routes with a fare freeze next year.

After speaking with passengers at Lochgelly Station, the Mid Scotland and Fife MSP said: “Passengers are fed up with expensive, overcrowded and delayed trains. They deserve a break. That is why Scottish Labour believes passengers should have a fare freeze in 2017”.

He continued; “We need to see improvements on the trains, especially at peak times.

“I believe from speaking with many people and from the experience of the road bridge closure last year that costs is a real barrier for many people using trains particularly to get to and from work. A freeze would help and I am pleased that Nicola Sturgeon has said she will consider this proposal”.

Journeys in Fife can be up to three times more expensive than other parts of Scotland for the same length of journey.

A petition has also started and Ms Baker, a Mid Scotland and Fife MSP, said: “Passengers across Fife are fed up with overpriced, overcrowded, unreliable trains.

“Despite assurances that ScotRail has learned its lessons we are still seeing delays and cancellations.

“Passengers across Mid Scotland and Fife just aren’t getting the service they deserve.”

She added that despite repeated delays and cancellations – many of last week’s problems were caused after a single train broke down – passengers are due to see an increase in fares of up to 1.9 per cent in January.

Fife Council has called for a freeze on rail prices for Fife commuters until the review of Scotland’s National Transport Strategy is carried out.

Cllr Lesley Laird, who made the request in writing to Transport Minister Humza Yousaf, said: “Not only are Fifers paying over the odds in terms of rail fares, we can now see the extent of the poor service that Fife commuters are having to put up with.

“I have also been approached about the overcrowding of the trains, and the lack of appropriate rolling stock.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Everyone rightly expects a railway network that operates effectively and that includes passengers in Fife.

“So when things go wrong we fully understand passengers’ dissatisfaction and the inconvenience that is caused.

“The actions we are taking now and the long-term transformation we have planned underlines this Government’s commitment to improving the service received.”