Kirsty Williams challenges First Minister on Rail pass farce

1.55.54pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 13th Jun 2007

Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for Brecon and Radnorshire, Kirsty Williams, publicly raised problems her constituents are facing with the new concessionary rail scheme with the First Minister at the National Assembly for Wales.

The pilot scheme, which began earlier this month, should enable people to use their concessionary bus pass to travel for free on the Heart of Wales line, because bus services in the county are often unable to meet their needs. Powys County Council, however say they are unable to issue the passes to anyone who already holds one of their discount rail cards, meaning that many pensioners will miss out.

Ms Williams said: "I was stunned when this anomaly first came to my attention. The whole point of the pilot scheme is to enable as many pensioners as possible to travel for free on the Heart of Wales line, but this bureaucratic nonsense is penalising those who have always used the train as their primary means of travel.

"I have urged the Assembly Government to liaise with Powys County Council as a matter of urgency, to try and resolve this situation as quickly as possible and ensure that my constituents can benefit from the pilot scheme in the way it was intended."

Notes:

Senior citizens, and the long-term disabled, have previously been offered either a bus pass (which gives them free travel on most journeys throughout Wales) or a Railcard (which gives them a third off their fares)- people were not allowed to apply for both. One of the problems with the concessionary bus scheme, however, was that many people in the constituency were not able to access regular bus services. The Assembly Government therefore proposed a scheme which would enable them to make free journeys in rural areas by train instead, and is currently piloting this on the Heart of Wales and Conwy Valley lines. The old rail passes are not accepted as proof of eligibility - individuals need a bus pass to claim free fares under the pilot - and Powys County Council says people cannot swap from the old rail pass to a bus pass, leaving those who've previously prioritised travelling by train still having to pay two-thirds of their fares, whilst others can travel for free.

The full text of Kirsty's question and the First Minister's response, along with the Record of Proceedings for all other Assembly debates, is available on the National Assembly for Wales website ( www.wales.gov.uk ).