FREE bus travel

[Kaido]

I live in N Ireland and from the age of 60 have had free local bus travel. Now from age 65 I can avail of free travel courtesy of the Republic or Ireland Government as well.

I have 2 daughters living and working in England (London and Newcastle) and would like to visit using my free bus travel if this is possible.
What is the situation on the mainland, both England and Scotland) for free bus travel for over 65's, do you enjoy the same concessions we have.


 

[Papaumau]

Hi Kaido....

Nice to hear from N I as I am half Irish and all of my dad's family live in the North. I lived with my gran & grandad in Ballymoney for three years while my mum was looking for work in Scotland....

Anyway, that is by-the-by !

We pensioners in Scotland have had national free bus travel for a couple of years now but I don't know if your NI bus pass will work over here.

England has been wittering on about pensioners getting national free bus travel for a long time but I don't know if it is through there yet.

I believe that Wales does have the same concession as Scotland has.

You are going to have to get confirmation of the English situation from one of the English members here, either that or come over to my own forum and ask there. You can find a link to it set into my logo-banner below my signature here.

[Kaido]

Hi Papamau

First thanks for info, I will now contact bus companies and see if reciprocal arrangements.
Thought would have some replies from England, maybe will have to research other ways.

Ballymoney - what a coincidence, myself from Stranocum, just a few miles down the road from "Cow Town".

Regards
Kaido

[Papaumau]

"Cow town"  it's a while since I heard that name !

Yes Ballymoney was famous for it's cattle market and I lived on a street just a hundred yards from the rail depot.

I have a cousin, who lived with us while she did her degrees in Scotland that, while she comes from Coleraine, can do that Ballymoney-Scotch accent that is strangely unique to that town. ( Some good memories invoked here ).

I hope you get good replies from your enquiries as I can see no reason for this free bus travel for pensioners not being a national benefit.

[Ivanhoe]

The problem with Ireland is that half of it is in Europe, while the other half isnt.

Therefore the part which is in Europe receives the same treatment of pensioners that pensioners in Europe receive, and this comes under the European Social Charter.

However the part which isnt in Europe, still operates from the UK government's policies, which does not include European Social policy.

[Betsy]

Hi Kaido....

Nice to hear from N I as I am half Irish and all of my dad's family live in the North. I lived with my gran & grandad in Ballymoney for three years while my mum was looking for work in Scotland....

Anyway, that is by-the-by !

We pensioners in Scotland have had national free bus travel for a couple of years now but I don't know if your NI bus pass will work over here.

England has been wittering on about pensioners getting national free bus travel for a long time but I don't know if it is through there yet.

I believe that Wales does have the same concession as Scotland has.

You are going to have to get confirmation of the English situation from one of the English members here, either that or come over to my own forum and ask there. You can find a link to it set into my logo-banner below my signature here.

We've had it for a while now.....as soon as it came in I saw it reported on TV a couple of friends who were going all around England using just the free buses

http://www2.tunbridgewells.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=2060

[Kaido]

Betsy

Many thanks, this is just what I have been looking for. Has this scheme been a success ? Any time I have been on the bus over here about 80% of travellers have been silver haired.
Maybe I should look in a mirror before making a disparaging remark like that.

Papaumau -
on re-readiing first post I see I mispelled your name, apologies I will try not to let it happen again.

Bi for now from foggy Ireland.

[Papaumau]

Thanks for the correction Betsy ! Mind you I believe that travel in Scotland is not just restricted to non-peak times - as it seems to be in England - as the wife uses the buses any time of the day to go anywhere in Scotland that she chooses. ( She and her pal love to go places on the buses even although I have volunteered to drive them anywhere they want to go. It's an independence thing I think ).

Kaido....

Don't worry about misspelling my pseudonym as many have done that in the past. It's a tricky one !

Ivanhoe......

Of course you are dead right that Britain, including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not have the same standards off pensions or senior citizens concessions as in Europe as to bring our benefits in line with the Euro-zone would cost the government here far too much.

That is one of the reasons why I believe that Britain SHOULD be at the heart of Europe AND a member of EMU.

[Betsy]

Betsy

Many thanks, this is just what I have been looking for. Has this scheme been a success ? Any time I have been on the bus over here about 80% of travellers have been silver haired.
Maybe I should look in a mirror before making a disparaging remark like that.

Papaumau -
on re-readiing first post I see I mispelled your name, apologies I will try not to let it happen again.

Bi for now from foggy Ireland.

Couldn't tell you I'm afraid,Kaido....up to now I've only used local buses.

[Betsy]

Thanks for the correction Betsy ! Mind you I believe that travel in Scotland is not just restricted to non-peak times - as it seems to be in England - as the wife uses the buses any time of the day to go anywhere in Scotland that she chooses. ( She and her pal love to go places on the buses even although I have volunteered to drive them anywhere they want to go. It's an independence thing I think ).

Lucky Scotland....

[Ivanhoe]

Papaumau, I agree with what you say, but you are wrong about one thing,
the low British State pension has nothing to do with cost.

Means testing pensioners is costing over 10 times more than the restoration of the earnings link would cost, not to mention the money our government spend on foreign wars ect.

No, the real reason why the State pension is low and pensioners are forced into means testing for state handouts is due to the fact that the government are phasing the State pension out as the primary source of retrement in this country in favour of the private pension, which of course will effect the young when they are old,  in our short term, low waged, insecure work base.

[Papaumau]

Know what you mean Ivanhoe but I think that the cost to provide British pensioners with a decent state pension, ( in order to lift them out of the poverty trap ) - while exacerbated by the cost of running means-testing - is simply based on the fact that THEY think that because there are fewer people now working after a certain age - to help to build government pension-funds - and there are more people now living to claim state pensions while the investment markets are not producing the large pension funds they used to, they are looking at ways to cut down on this ever-increasing bill. ( One of the suggestions is to make people work until they are seventy      ).

I see the state pension as something that should come out of the tax pot FIRST and before any other costs are incurred by government so that whatever shade of government are in power, they have quickly got that single worry paid for.

State pensions should be not only based on average earnings - instead of average inflation rates - but they should be set at a level that is commensurate with the needs of the pensioners not to be struggling every day to subsist.

This, is basic common decency and should not be used as a political football so as to try to blame the elderly, who have already done their bit for their country, for the costs incurred in keeping them out of poverty. ( And stopping them in their droves from dying from hypothermia every winter ).

Germany and Italy and even Spain can do it so I see no reason why Britain can not do it too !

[Ivanhoe]

We dont do this because as stated, this and successive right wing government's are phasing the state pension out.

If "government" had the will to bring in a much higher and universial state pension they could do it easy, but they keep churning out this garbage about old age being a burden, and fewer workers picking up the tab.

So while us Brit's are ready to believe this, things will never change.

[Papaumau]

The facts that a). There ARE fewer people in employment to pay national insurance and b). That there are now more people living longer who are looking for a state pension being paid for more years before they kick the proverbial, are unavoidable.

It is also unavoidable that as the money-markets have been hit hard by the recession and because interest rates now being paid to pension funds are extremely low, the government , ( treasury ) are feeling the pinch just as much as the private pension sectors are.

On top of this we see this government -no matter the alleged hue - being deeply in debt because of lost revenues and because of the large sums that were chucked at the failing banks.

With the national debt running at: £11,795,045,980,436.61 today. ( Source: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np )

The present government are looking for as many ways as possible to try to reduce this deficit and sadly the country's pensioners are in there as targets for this wishlist too !

Do NOT expect any better treatment from the Tories, ( the REAL right-wingers ) as they care even less for the people than the  New-Labourites do.

[Ivanhoe]

Papaumau, New Labour are without doubt the new Tory government of the right wing.

The real problem in this country is the greed of the people, millions were made rich by the Thatcher/Major years, while millions were made poor, including pensioners.

What Blair and Brown have done is offer the people means tested handouts instead of bringing in the much fairer spread of wealth they have had in Europe for decades.

We are in this recession due to a continuation of right wingsm, it's as simple as that.