MILLIONS of pounds destined for the Dutch owners of ScotRail could instead be used to cut fares if the franchise was renationalised, rail union RMT said today.

Last November SNP ministers opposed a motion in the Scottish Parliament to bring the railways back into public ownership in 2022.

They instead plan to let Abellio, the arm of the Dutch state which holds the current franchise, carry on running services until 2025.

The Scottish government then plans to “allow” a state-owned company, such as ferry operator CalMac, to bid against private firms for the next franchise.

ScotRail is due to take £1,233,092,503 in passenger revenue in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Private operators claim only 3 per cent of passenger revenue is taken in profits.

But the RMT says this would still amount to £37 million, and could fund a one-off fare cut of 11 per cent at 2018 prices.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “It’s appalling that despite enduring a terrible service in 2018, passengers are beginning 2019 with yet another fare hike.”

He said the delay until 2025 “means passengers will continue to be fleeced to the tune of tens of millions of pounds that will swell ScotRail’s profits.”

Transport workers and their unions joined passengers at Edinburgh Waverley, the biggest station in Scotland, to demonstrate against the fare rise.

The average ticket price on ScotRail trains increased by 2.8 per cent on January 2.

Peak season tickets and anytime day tickets rose by 3.2 per cent, while off-peak fares, which rise at a capped rate, increased in price by 2.2 per cent.

Fares on the Caledonian Sleeper to London, which is run as a separate franchise, did not rise – but the cheapest berths increased significantly in price last autumn as the operator axed shared sleeping compartments.

Fares on the East Coast main line to Edinburgh, operated by the state-controlled LNER since the third operator on the route since privatisation failed last year, rose by an average of 3.4 per cent.

Virgin Trains, which runs to Glasgow, hiked fares by 3.2 per cent.

ScotRail said its rise was below the British average increase of 3.1 per cent. The company argued it was investing “millions to build the best railway Scotland has ever had.”

But Mr Cash said his union was “renewing our call for public ownership of the railways,” urging the Scottish government to “think again and allow our railways in Scotland to be nationalised as soon as possible.”