It has emerged it is cheaper to travel to Inverness from Edinburgh than from Fife.
Fife Council has called for a review of ticket prices and requested meetings with the Scottish Government and train operator Abellio after research found comparable trips in other parts ofScotland can cost half the price.
But calls for action to tackle thepricing issue have gathered pace after it emerged some Fifers are being forced to pay well over the odds when cheaper tickets are available.
A baffling array of tickets has been highlighted by two men due to travel from Markinch to Inverness thissummer.
Graeme Anderson contacted The Courier after buying return tickets for his friend David Baker’s stag do in June for more than £37, only to discover they could get the same journey fromEdinburgh for as little as £5 each way.
“It’s an absolute rip off,” Mr Anderson said. “Surely in these days of modern technology, if you go online andbook online then you should get thebest value?”
The stag group had initially been quoted £47 when they first looked at the prices online, although that eventually came down to £37.
“Only one of the party of five of us going managed to get it for £13 return in the end and the rest of us are paying over £37 from the same station, even though Edinburgh is actually 50 minutes or so further away,” he added.
“This isn’t just a few pounds we’re talking about. It’s disgraceful.”
A ScotRail spokeswoman said:“Fares are calculated using a number of criteria, including frequency of services, market demand and managing capacity on peak services.”
She continued: “In January we launched a new £5 advance fare our biggest ever discounted ticket.
The move is part of the rollout of an‘airline-style’ ticketing system based on pricing seats more closely to demand.
“The discounts are available on a first come, first served basis.”
The ScotRail spokeswoman added that the availability of advance fares are kept “under constant review” as they are subject to demand, and said the company plans to introduce advance fares on selected services between Markinch and Inverness later this year.