The company claim the move will simplify ticket prices and ease overcrowding.

The new fares affect travel between the central belt to Aberdeen, Inverness and Dumfries.

It will cost £57.50 to travel between Glasgow or Edinburgh to Aberdeen before 9.15am - an increase of 9.9 per cent. And travel from the Central Belt to Inverness will see a standard open return ticket costing £47.40. Dumfries to Glasgow will also be hit with hikes of 5.8 per cent. But the Glasgow-Edinburgh route is not affected and season tickets and Flexipasses will remain the same.

To offset the rises, First Scotrail have extended their value advance tickets, offering discounts of up to 26 per cent.
But rail users' group Passenger Focus claimed communters would be the hardest hit when the new prices come into force on September 10.