Freedom Rider campaigers call on politicians to introduce annual fee to allow pensioners to claim free travel across South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire Freedom Riders (SYFR) has called on Sheffield City Region Mayor Dan Jarvis to introduce a scheme in which over 65s would pay a fee of £10 to £12 a year to access free travel on bus, tram and train across the county.

The scheme has been introduced by Greater Manchester combined authority after Mayor Andy Burnham scrapped the free train and tram portion of the travel concession for the elderly in return for an annual payment of £10.

The mayoral authority in the Tyne & Wear has also introduced a similar scheme which is available to the elderly with a concessionary travel pass. For £12, it gives those a year’s travel on the Metro, Shields Ferry and Northern Rail services between Newcastle and Sunderland.

But Mike Smith from SYFR said a similar scheme was put forward in 2014 when concessionary train travel from pensioners and disabled residents was taken away which led to protests at stations across the county.

Campaigners George Arthur and Tony Nuttall, both in their 60s, were arrested and charged with obstruction and fare evasion after a protest at Sheffield railway station. The charges were dropped that December.

Mr Smith said the scheme at £10 could have potentially raised £3 million but their calls were ‘ignored by councillors and MPs’.

The campaigner said that around 320,000 pensioners were left without ‘life-enhancing’ concessions during most of the last six years which is enjoyed in ‘London, Liverpool, the West Midlands, the North East, Leicester and Manchester’.

But Mayor Jarvis said the Covid-19 crisis has led to a big reduction in revenue for South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) and most of his time was lobbying Government for them to continue to provide emergency funding to keep services running.

He added that the scheme for an annual pass could be revisited in the coming months but the combined authority ‘needed to realistic’ about the current position.

Recent reports from Sheffield City Region officers said numbers on certain routes across South Yorkshire had fallen to just 10 per cent of what they were in the middle of lockdown.

“When the concession was removed from the disabled and elderly in South Yorkshire in 2014, one of the suggestions from the SYFR was a £10 annual charge to restore it raising a possible £3m - ten times what it originally cost. It was ignored.

“Always willing to explore new ideas and compromise but constantly rebuffed by our elected councillors and MP’s we made the case on social, health, and, in an area of extreme deprivation, economic grounds, but always came up against politicians who, for unexplained reasons of their own, refused to even contemplate restoration.

“This scheme is self financing - as it would have been 6 years ago. All it would cost Mayor Jarvis is some time and some ink. Why wasn’t it done and will it be done now?”

Mayor Jarvis, in response to Mr Smith, said: “I take every opportunity to make representations to Government on investment for public transport and to make the case for increased, sustained funding for bus, tram and rail that this will require.

“In doing so, I seek to take into account the views of local passenger and residents’ groups on the issues that are important to them.

“As I said in our earlier correspondence, you will appreciate that in the present climate the funding challenges are such that SYPTE’s revenue budget will not stretch to the type of general pensioner concession you are seeking – and certainly not without an impact on other concessions presently offered. SYPTE has the added pressure of making the most of a limited revenue budget to meet shortfalls in provision by operators.

“This was before the position was severely exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis.

“My ability to intervene in the market in the way you propose is limited because I do not have the resources and the truth is long term sustained structural funding of the bus, tram and rail network is what is required.

“I do wish to revisit the issue you raise at a future point. But we need to be realistic about the position.

“With passenger numbers down very significantly and bus services taking less than half the revenue they did before the crisis, and the likelihood that this position will continue over a sustained period, there is presently no prospect of my generating the kind of resourcing required to fund a general pensioner concession.”

Miriam Cates, Conservative MP for Penistone & Stocksbridge, said: "Ensuring that elderly people are able to access important services and social events is vital to improve health and combat loneliness. It was a pleasure to meet the South Yorkshire Freedom Riders not long after I was elected, and to hear their very convincing arguments.

"I have since met with the railways minister and officials from the Department for Transport to discuss the possibility of restoring the concessionary pass, and they too are supportive of the idea.

“However, the new devolution deal means that public transport fares are now the responsibility of the Sheffield City Region and the Mayor. I would be very keen to support a viable proposal should one be brought forward, and will continue my conversation with the Government to help achieve this."

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