Passengers on Scotland’s railways now face higher fixed penalties for certain antisocial behaviour after the Scottish Government increased fines from £40 to £70. The increase is part of wider work to strengthen railway enforcement. Existing powers also allow passengers to be prosecuted if their loud music annoys others.
The important distinction is that these are separate penalties: the Scottish changes concern fixed penalties, while disruptive audio is also covered by railway byelaws carrying court fines of up to £1,000. Separate bus measures announced in England have raised questions about which rules apply in Scotland.
What the £70 Antisocial Behaviour Fine Covers
The increase follows work by Scotland’s Rail Enforcement Powers Working Group. It examined fixed penalty notices, repeat offending, protections for railway staff and youth justice approaches.
The Scottish Parliament has voted to raise certain antisocial behaviour penalties to £70. The changes also include adding threatening or abusive behaviour to the offences that can be dealt with through fixed penalties.
Good to know if you are travelling by train: the £70 penalty and the potential £1,000 court fine for breaching railway byelaws are separate enforcement routes. The rules on disruptive music still apply when you play audio through a phone or another device.
Loudcasting Can Lead to a Court Fine
If you play loud music that annoys others on Scotland’s railways, you can face a court-imposed fine of up to £1,000 following a referral by British Transport Police or Police Scotland.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson told The National: “The byelaws outline a number of obligations for passengers, which includes prohibiting people from playing music from a device without headphones, particularly if this causes annoyance to other passengers.”
The spokesperson added: “If a person has breached the railway byelaws, they may be subject to a fine of up to £1000. This fine can only be issued by the courts following a referral from the British Transport Police or Police Scotland.”
These railway byelaws apply across Great Britain. The maximum court fine is therefore part of the existing railway enforcement system, rather than a new penalty introduced by the Scottish changes.
England’s £100 Bus Measures Are Separate
The Department for Transport’s announcement on 19 October 2026 set out bus fixed penalties of up to £100 under local enforcement powers in England. These measures cover nuisance behaviour including loud music, littering, vaping and threatening behaviour.
The powers, enabled by the Bus Services Act 2025, came into force on 5 August 2026. Each local byelaw needs the Transport Secretary’s approval before it can be enforced. Authorised officers, including transport safety officers and police, will handle enforcement. Bus drivers will have no responsibility for it.
The announcement also launched a railway campaign with the message “share the carriage, not the noise”. Passengers who refuse to stop disruptive audio when asked by authorised rail staff can be removed at the next station or face prosecution.
Scotland has no equivalent plan to introduce England’s bus fines. Scottish bus operators can refuse travel to disruptive passengers. The Scottish Government is also developing a code of conduct for people using National Concessionary Travel Scheme entitlements, with breaches potentially leading to free travel being suspended or withdrawn.
Further Railway Enforcement Work Continues
The Scottish working group produced 11 recommendations to strengthen railway safety. Transport Scotland is coordinating further assessment of whether they are feasible, what they would cost and how long they would take. This includes options to address repeat offending and provide additional protections for railway workers.
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “We are already taking forward action on a number of the recommendations, including raising penalty levels and widening the ability to use Fixed Penalty Notices, while officials begin work now on assessing the remaining proposals.”
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey welcomed the recommendations and urged the Scottish Government to pursue a standalone offence of assaulting a rail worker at work. Further measures still need legal, financial and policy consideration, so they are not yet settled.
