In message , Paul Scott
writes

By the way, how do TfL calculate/reimburse the travel costs of Freedom
Pass holders on National Rail in the London area?

It's worth pointing out that 60+ residents in the West Midlands get
local train travel, too, as do those in some (but not all) other PTE
areas.

As the new scheme is for free *bus* travel, this is all it gives. Some
local authorities will continue to finance extra benefits such as
train/metro travel but these are funded locally and are not part of the
national scheme.

I am a believer in free local travel for older people, not as a
poverty-relieving measure but as a tangible "gift" from society to
someone who has attained a certain age. A bit like a more useful
version of the traditional retirement clock, if that's not too fanciful.

I do however, see some *very* problematic consequences of this in some
areas for demographic reasons; Blackpool and Torquay spring to mind.
(Notwithstanding the above, will the scheme give free bus travel in
Blackpool to "visiting" 60+ people but exclude the trams?)

--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk