19 March 2010

This has put a damper on Friday



I'm not happy. And a lot of other "elderly people" will not be happy. The Scotsman reports:
ELDERLY people may have to pay to use Edinburgh's trams despite previous assurances that the scheme that offers pensioners free bus travel around the country would include the city's flagship new transport project.
Council leaders have admitted they do not yet know whether the £545 million project will become part of the Scottish Government's concessionary fares scheme when the trams are ready to run.
So it's the fault of the First Minister and his chums. Well, they better wake up to who does the voting in this country - it's not generation X or Y, it is we silver seniors; and we'll not take kindly to being asked to pay on the trams.

3 comments:

commentor said...

To be fair, you should have to pay a bit extra, to contribute to the state pensions of those who are currently of working age ;-)

Last tram to San Fernando said...

I wouldn't worry -the trams won't be going anywhere near the pubs etc you want to go to - if they go anywhere at all outside Cologne. And the airport bus will still be free for pensoners like you to get to Spain.

Calum Cashley said...

I never had you down as an "elderly person"!

The concessionary fares on the tram (if it ever gets built) have always been in doubt. Neither the Scottish Government nor its predecessors pledged to include the tram in the national scheme, and for good reason. Trams are, legally, trains rather than buses - extending the concession scheme to the tram would give, at the very least, a solid case for extending it to the SPT underground and rail services as well and, subsequently, to national rail services and it's very doubtful whether that can be afforded. I blogged about it in October 2007.

Interestingly, though, during the passage of the tram legislation, Edinburgh Council promised to pick up the tab for implementing concessionary fares on the tram:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/tram-two-bill/reports-05/e2r05-01-vol01-01.htm

Sorry, I don't know how to make that a hyperlink.

CC