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Scrap Senior Railcards & Use Bus Passes?

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AlterEgo

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Young people get enough as it is especially if they live at home and are funded by the bank of mum and dad. Off topic a bit - I would like to see regional rover reintroduced where I could travel anywhere in say old NSE area for the day and get discount on top for having a railcard.

"Young people get enough as it is" :lol:

What planet are you on?
 

Darandio

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Young people get enough as it is

Hmm, is it different nowadays?

I worked for 2 years with a weekly wage of £29.50, luckily my parents only wanted to take £10 of that for 'board'. I don't recall getting anything else at all.

So what is this 'enough' that they get?
 

EbbwJunction1

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60 in Scotland.

It's 60 in Wales as well.

I switched from my Annual Season ticket when I got my Railcard last September, and it works pretty well. I use the bus pass most days, although I sometimes take the train if the times are better, for example in the evenings.

I use the Railcard when I need to go outside Wales and pay the local bus fare when I get to where I'm going. If I'm going to somewhere in Wales that isn't easily accessible by bus, again especially in the evenings but does have a rail service, I'll use my Railcard.

(Oh, and I've got a national Express Coach Card as well!)
 

al78

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"Young people get enough as it is" :lol:

What planet are you on?

Some people like to throw out opinions on things they know little about (it is a widespread problem), it is so much more convenient than doing some background research and learning something. It is arguably best to not diverge onto a controversial and emotive issue such as the so-called generation wars and who has it worse, in my day blah blah blah etc, otherwise the thread is at risk of going down the toilet (well that wouldn't be a first).
 

ashworth

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Leave it as it is! As the State Pension age slowly rises it is good that at least something is still available at the age of 60.
I know that I count myself as being very fortunate to have been wealthy enough to retire early on a pension from work, but I'm still not going to get my state pension for another 6 years when I am 66. I will not get my bus pass, if they are still available by then, until I am 66 and so many other concessions are slowly rising from the age of 60 to state pension age.
Since reaching 60 last October, the Senior Railcard has been a fantastic help with travel costs.
 

yorksrob

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I wouldn't scrap the railcard fee. Not only is it a source of revenue in itself, but it also acts as a 'sunk' cost which incentivises people to get their moneys worth by buying more train travel.
 

6Gman

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A lot of oldies won’t pay the £30 for the Railcard because they are not sure whether they will get their money back. (The same dilemma surely faces many others who are thinking about purchasing a Railcard). The buses seem to be full of oldies during the day - people that the railways could well do with to produce revenue outside of commuting times.

I contend, that by scrapping the £30 fee for the senior railcard and just let them use their bus passes to get a third off rail travel, that revenue would actually rise. This, despite the fact that they would still have to pay to use the trains but can use the buses for free.

It seems to me that Belgium has the right idea.

Presumably ATOC takes a different view.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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Speaking personally, both my wife and I have held the three-year Senior Citizen Railcards for some years now and the cost of this three-year pass is most certainly not pro-rata to three separate annual railcards. There seems always to be an extra discount when we renew them in the month of November.
 

bradford758

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Poland discounted rail travel at 60+ (but not in the Warszawa area, where it is 70+)
Slovakia free rail travel 62+ for EU citizen as noted above

Sent from my 4009X using Tapatalk
 

AndyPJG

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Speaking personally, both my wife and I have held the three-year Senior Citizen Railcards for some years now and the cost of this three-year pass is most certainly not pro-rata to three separate annual railcards. There seems always to be an extra discount when we renew them in the month of November.

£70 vice £90 (3x30)?
 

BestWestern

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The same one as the poster who said "Old people get enough as it is." ?

Older folk do get assistance, however. A free bus pass, reduced rate prices for many, many different things, winter fuel allowance, and so on. Young adults get nothing. And yet, much of society's wealth is locked away in the bank accounts of OAPs and hardly ever sees the light of day. The concessionary pass scheme in particular is widely agreed to have been nothing but a cynical vote winner, designed from the outset to stitch up bus companies with much of the cost, and which is in many cases really not justified by the financial circumstances of the user. I fully accept that there are also pensioners living on a pittence, but throwing the same public funded handouts at both ends of the scale is not a good system.
 

AM9

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Older folk do get assistance, however. A free bus pass, reduced rate prices for many, many different things, winter fuel allowance, and so on. Young adults get nothing. And yet, much of society's wealth is locked away in the bank accounts of OAPs and hardly ever sees the light of day. The concessionary pass scheme in particular is widely agreed to have been nothing but a cynical vote winner, designed from the outset to stitch up bus companies with much of the cost, and which is in many cases really not justified by the financial circumstances of the user. I fully accept that there are also pensioners living on a pittence, but throwing the same public funded handouts at both ends of the scale is not a good system.

'Older folk' need some assistance because of the effect of age on their lifestyle:
free bus pass - now intended to encourage them a) to get out and not vegetate at home and b) to not depend on driving their own vehicles as their faculties fall below normal standards
'reduced rate prices for many different things' is a bit nebulus so really needs to be clarified
winter fuel allowance because many elderly people are unable to cope with lower winter temperatures but cannot afford to pay for the additional heating needed
wealth locked away in bank accounts has no impact on anybody else because it is just money. If elderly people used it to purchase severely limited commodities, it would push the price, (or reduce the availability) for everybody else. Any wealth still around at end of life is either passed onto younger friends/family or charity, - it isn't burnt to stop anybody else getting it.​
Some of these concessions given to the elderly may well be seen as vote catchers, because the elderly actually get off their arses and vote, something that anybody over the age of 18 can do, but somehow seem to be happier in their whinging about how their needs are ignored. If they did, they might be able to persuade the government of the day that some targetting of these benefits at those most in need was a condition of their vote.
 

34D

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34D

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I live in Central Beds, apart from free bus travel as per the ENCTS rules I could if I wished get reduced rate rail travel as per the following

A bus pass issued by Central Bedfordshire Council also allows you to rail travel for half the normal adult fare on:

Thameslink and Great Northern trains between Sandy, Biggleswade and Arlesey and any station as far as Hadley Wood, Crews Hill and Royston
Thameslink and Great Northern trains between Bedford and Elstree & Borehamwood and stations in between
East Midland trains between Bedford and Luton Airport Parkway
London Midland trains between Bedford and Bletchley
Discounts are valid from 10am on Mondays to Fridays and all day Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. You may purchase discounted tickets from any staffed ticket office (or from ticket vending machines by purchasing a child ticket).

They are not available online. You must carry your valid concessionary travel pass with you throughout the journey and must show it on demand.

I don't use this facility personally as I have Priv Travel facilities, but I expect it is used by some.

I wonder if you might submit this suggestion to the author of the FAQ section on discounts http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=68553
 

sheff1

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'Older folk' need some assistance because of the effect of age on their lifestyle:
free bus pass - now intended to encourage them a) to get out and not vegetate at home and b) to not depend on driving their own vehicles as their faculties fall below normal standards
'reduced rate prices for many different things' is a bit nebulus so really needs to be clarified
winter fuel allowance because many elderly people are unable to cope with lower winter temperatures but cannot afford to pay for the additional heating needed
wealth locked away in bank accounts has no impact on anybody else because it is just money. If elderly people used it to purchase severely limited commodities, it would push the price, (or reduce the availability) for everybody else. Any wealth still around at end of life is either passed onto younger friends/family or charity, - it isn't burnt to stop anybody else getting it.​
Some of these concessions given to the elderly may well be seen as vote catchers, because the elderly actually get off their arses and vote, something that anybody over the age of 18 can do, but somehow seem to be happier in their whinging about how their needs are ignored. If they did, they might be able to persuade the government of the day that some targetting of these benefits at those most in need was a condition of their vote.

^^^
This.

The whingers seem to prefer the race to the bottom ("I don't get something so no one else should either") rather than campaigning to improve their own lot. If they are successful in getting the assistance the older generations have campaigned for withdrawn, then I expect that when they reach the 'elderly' point in their life they will be complaining that "xxx years ago pensioners used to get assistance for YYY, its not fair".
 

shredder1

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Why don’t they scrap senior railcards - with their £30 fee - and just let those eligible use their bus passes instead to get a third off rail fares?

In Hungary we only need to show our passport for free travel for the over 65`s. Czech Republic its a photocard for EU citizens, you don`t need to live in the country.
 

PeterY

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NO NO No. I don't want anything changed now. I'm 60 in Jan. I'm looking forward to having my senior rail card.
 
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