As predicted, Blackpool Council are to withdraw the provision of free tram travel in Blackpool for non-Blackpool residents eligible for the English National Travel Concession Scheme, with effect from 1st April. Despite hopes that Lancashire County Council would step in to fund this provision, a decision has now been taken that this will not go ahead, so within a few short weeks only people who live in Blackpool will be able to use their concessionary travel passes on the tramway.
Lancashire County Council do operate a mandatory scheme enabling local residents free tram travel, except for some restrictions on early mornings and during the illuminations, but this does not extend beyond the boundaries of Blackpool itself. Previously Blackpool Council had funded such travel for residents of Fleetwood etc. as well as tourists from elsewhere in England, but this will end shortly due to severe cutbacks. As the national scheme does not apply to trams and light rail, neither Blackpool Council or Lancashire County Council are obliged to finance this and the potential number of senior citizens who have not surprisingly taken advantage of the offer in the last couple of years has proved to be a financial burden. With Blackpool Transport already under immense pressure to turn a profit, offering free travel on the trams without at least part of the usual fare being supplied by a local authority is clearly not an option.
The fear is now that many of the people who had been convinced to use the tramway as their first choice means of transport may now switch to the rival promenade bus service, just as has happened before in the dark days of the pre-upgraded tramway. Although fares from BTS bus services will still end up in BTS coffers, this makes justifying service improvements and extension of the existing tramway even more difficult to justify in these tough times. The already insecure future of the nine modified ‘B Fleet’ Balloon cars must also be put even more in doubt, as any reduction in passenger numbers will kill off any chance of these trams being used for their intended role as supplements to the Flexity2 fleet on the core service.
Hopefully 2014 will see the Blackpool tramway continue to prosper, but decisions such as this are likely to make the year ahead a challenging one for the system.
Although not yet operational, Edinburgh Trams have adopted “residents only” fre travel policy.
Not especially fair.
How is that not fair? They pay council tax in that area, do you?
From “All Fools Day” and its no April fools joke? once more Senior Citizens with English National Travel Concession passes will not be able to use it on Blackpool trams. It will mean that the promenade bus services will be packed to the gunnel’s with standing room only whilst the trams will glide by empty. These are grave times for the future of Blackpool trams, expect a reduction of the tram service and possible operating job loses. So much for the motto on Blackpool Corporations coat of arms “Progress”
It is regrettable if, as maybe the case, (in my opinion) that Trevor Roberts has resigned over this issue. Possibly he became aware of the politics involved and decided enough was enough, just when things on the upgraded system seemed to have settled down; with an improved light rail system and some heritage tram usage. Visiting senior citizens (and there are many in the holiday season) will defect to the buses, without much doubt, as stated, leaving the expensively upgraded tramway in the role of ‘poor relation’.
We may now have to deal with another ‘unknown quantity’- and that in more ways than one.
As pointed out, the batch of double deckers, converted at considerable cost may well now be completely redundant.
Here’s one senior citizen who won’t default to the buses but to another resort. This decision is a prize visitor deterrent.
Which other UK seaside resort will that be? There are no others that offer a tram ride of any sort never mind a free ride…
What about the Great Orme, Douglas Horse trams, Manx Electric Railway and to stretch a point the Wirral Tramway that hopefully travel between Birkenhead and Taylor street plus eventually to Seacombe. So you can you can cross the Mersey travel to Birkenhead by one off our 12 trams trams.
And let’s not forget that wonderful tramway that will need all the visitor support it can get this year – the Seaton tramway. And to be fair, John Stewart didn’t actually specify SEASIDE resort!
It would be great to see the Birkenhead tramway running through to Seacombe.
But let’s hope that this retrograde step doesn’t damage the heritage service, on which bus passes aren’t valid anyway.
On the general subject of pensioners’ bus passes, I have no qualms about having and using mine, on the grounds that I have spent however many years they have been in existence funding other peoples’ passes through my taxes, and as someone who still pays income tax on my pension and council tax, I am in retirement still funding my own and other peoples’ passes.
Hi Ken,
You are correct in saying FREE passes are not valid however if you check the website you will see concessions are half fare. As the normal fare is only £2 for all day and this includes free entry to the museum which houses many buses and other road transport I think the twirlees (too early’s) will have a good deal. Incidentaly I am a pass holder and I have spent years putting money into rates so pensioners can have free and discounted travel so why should I not be entitled now at the age of 67?
Sorry I forgot to mention Seaton which runs along the riverside to the sea
Perhaps BTS should simply offer a pensioner fare – on production of the card – that equates with the money that would have accrued from the County Council. So, e.g. card & 50p, I guess would probably be as much as would be needed. It used to be about 35p per person. It’s only an idea.
excellent idea!
maybe there could even be a pensioner day ticket?
Simon
Perhaps English Pass plus half fare at non peak times would keep the tourtists/holiday makers happy.
As a holder of a bus pass, I shall be quite pleased to pay to use the trams. Good quality public transport should be paid for and I do not expect local tax payers to subsidise my travel costs.
Does this also apply to disabled bus passes?
I feel the whole free bus pass scheme, whilst well intentioned, is flawed in principle. And I speak as someone not that far away from one myself! Many resorts that have a large number of elderly visitors are feeling the pinch. Often full fare paying passengers are unable to get on buses full of pass holders (Scarborough – Whitby is a prime example). A fairer system would possibly be free travel in your local area & a discounted fare elsewhere. After all, if the service makes a loss and is cut, what use is a free pass then?
A true “gun foot Bang” moment for a tourist resort – either withdraw the lot or keep the lot – but to leave the option of bus travel to the detriment of the tram business is something only politicians could dream up.
It is short-sighted to spend large sums on upgrading local heavy and light rail infrastructure, but perpetuate an uneven playing field that favours local buses. All local public transport should be treated in the same way regarding concessionary travel. The cheapest and fairest way to do this would be to subsidise 50% (not free) concessionary travel for pensioners by any form of public transport, for journeys not exceeding 30 miles.
However, in the instance discussed here, if pensioners just in the boroughs of Fylde and Wyre were given free travel on the trams by Lancashire County Council, in addition to pensioners in Blackpool itself, the effect on year-round tramway use should not be too severe.
This Farce is the result of a well meaning but botched political decision. Trams were left out because civil servants thought they were trains and the treasury would do any thing to save money. The council could keep the scheme the way it is but the sad truth is they are not interested in the tramway let alone the tourist trade. Blackpool has very serious social problems, so money spent on the tourist is way down the list. I doubt if the trams will reach North Station, as for the tram fleet in Rigby Road, make the most of them while you can.
My comment is unconnected with the trams, but it is very sad to read that ‘Blackpool has very serious social problems’, even more so because it is true.
When my relatives moved from Royton, Oldham, to Abbey Road, Squires Gate in 1938, following a win on the football pools, Blackpool was the place to be, with its thriving holiday trade, clean air, and abundant sunshine, compared with the Lancashire mill towns.
They moved in order to better themselves, so they would have been saddened to witness the decline in Blackpool’s fortunes.
Fron a personal point of view it is nothing like the Blackpool of the 1950s, with its stylish sea front buildings on Central Promenade and an extensive tram network.
Just to make it absolutely clear, this is not the fault of Blackpool Transport nor Blackpool Council.
BT have no control over the National scheme (and to offer their own age based discount outside of the Government directed scheme would be questionable under current discrimination legislation)
The Council are still funding above the minimum requirements of the national scheme. They actually deserve some credit for previously going far beyond the minimum requirements that they are reimbursed for by Central Government.
Any complaints really need to be directed towards your MPs – it is they who set the minimum requirements of the scheme (who, what, when) and set the level of funding local councils receive to finance it.
We spend3 or4 weeks a year in fleetwood & use the trams we will now go to the east coast
Whilst I can understand some of the thinking behind the council’s decision, I can’t help but feel that no-one has really thought of the consequences when this is implemented. It does not just affect us out-of-towners but also the residents of Wyre Borough to the north of Blackpool. I have often travelled in the last couple of years using my concessionary pass. Every time I notice that the trams are often patronised by family groups, some of whom pay fares, whereas other use a pass. This business will either transfer to the bus or will be lost altogether. For many the ride on the tram is a novelty and part of the Blackpool experience. If the council and BTS think that the pensioners will simply transfer to the bus I feel they will be seriously mistaken. many will simply not travel at all! This will also affect the fortunes of Fleetwood market traders who rely on an influx of (mainly elderly) visitors from the trams. If this is some kind of brinksmanship on the part of Blackpool Council then I fear it will go seriously wrong. In 2014 the trams will run half empty leadibg to calls to cut services, which threatens not only jobs on the main service but the
heritage service itself.
I fully agree with “Paul” that strictly speaking, this is not Blackpool Council, Blackpool Transport’s or even LCC’s fault, as in hindsight, which is always a wondrous thing, perhaps they should not have ever offered this concession, for just this reason, IE, that if it ever had to then be withdrawn, which was always a possibility, that there would be this massive backlash, including people vowing never to come to Blackpool again etc. It was an extra and possibly over generous concession in the context of no one else then offering it. And so, to be fair, BBC, BTS and LCC are just going back to their original default position, which is perhaps where they should have always been.
This whole concession thing was contextualized to me once by someone very high in the transport game, as being likened to Tesco being told by the government to allow everyone over 60 to be able to go in for free food and that the government might give them 35p in the £ back, if they were lucky!! Who the heck else but the transport sector would put up with such vagaries?
My main concern now, apart from the potential reduction in tramway user ship and all the well argued points it may bring, is that viewing the recent Notices and Proceedings, a certain “other” bus operator is wishing to again register their promenade service from Easter, so it may be them that benefit from the trams loss, which following their sister organisation’s behaviour towards tram car restoration etc, not to mention their own bus operation’s totally unprofessional record recently, these are the very last people I think should profit from this decision. I can only hope that some very overdue action from LCC or the Traffic Commissioner can halt such a move. Hopefully fully and permanently.
One slightly pedantic, but I am informed, no less relevant fact that might somewhat solve or at least throw a delay tactic in the works of this issue is, that the tramway and a short section either side of each track, including the former Tramroad section , has since it’s purchase, been classed as within Blackpool, so technically, if that ruling still exists, which I am told it does, it means that the tramway, right the way through to Fleetwood Ferry, is always in Blackpool and therefore nothing to do with Wyre. That might just confuse the issue enough..lol.
When considering how best to retain customers (“customers” seems these days to be the term favoured over “passengers”), it might well behove Blackpool Transport to consider what motivates a visitor to Blackpool to make use of the trams. If it is simply a question of getting from A to B by the best all round means then for a concessionary pass holder a bus is just as effective as a ‘run of the mill’ light rail vehicle. As impressive and efficient as the Flexities are, they are in common with LRVs found in Manchester, Croydon and various other British cities, just impersonal people movers. In order to attract people on to the trams and expect them to pay when they could just as easily catch a bus and travel without cost, it would be necessary to provide them with more than just a means of transport per se. Consider a warm, fine summer Saturday and a busy promenade. Which would be more attractive to a pass holder – a Flexity when there are open top buses operating offering free rides, or a well-presented Boat Car in attractive traditional livery, just begging to be ridden on? I feel that in order to maximize revenue, Blackpool Transport could benefit from looking at a more flexible approach toward operating its heritage cars and concentrating on the area which has the greatest potential for profit, i.e. North Pier to Pleasure Beach. I know that from an enthusiast’s point of view it’s great to go gallivanting off to Fleetwood on an historic car, but it is more important to preserve the historical side of the Tramway and that can only be achieved by maximising profit – in other words by offering attractive fares on trips which are not too time consuming, where the majority of potential customers tend to congregate.
Holders of English concessionary passes cannot use their passes on other tramways/light rail systems, although London ‘Freedom’ pass holders can use Croydon Tramlink and GMPTE area holders can use Metrolink. As a Scottish pass holder, resident outwith the city, I have no problems with the Edinburgh arrangements.
I thought that part of the agreement for government funding of the “new” tramway was that English concessionary passes would be valid also that the parallel bus route would be withdrawn to avoid competition.
Am I wrong???
One would imagine you are – if Blackpool Transport withdrew the 1 someone else would step in straight away to run a seafront service. In the deregulated bus world you can’t demand a bus service is withdrawn so as not to compete with another form of transport
The Tram Tracks are like the Berlin Wall , going straight through the middle of Fleetwood , & Thornton Cleveleys. Not only have their residents been inconvenienced the past 2yrs during track and stops updating. They are left with Vibratory Damage, Noise , and physical inconvenience as often the distance between crossing gates is very difficult to cover when having to use sticks and crutches, Their reward for these troubles is to withdraw the OAP /disabled passes !! Surely that cannot be right.
We are NOT out of towners such as Bolton / Chorley etc. We live by and in some cases almost on the actual tracks !! come on Blackpool , recognise that fact and the hassles we have and still endure. Give the local OAPs their concessions. Small Mobility Scooters are fine on Trams but wont go on Buses …..You will be OAP’s one day, Have a heart !
Today Wed.26th. March my wife and I will be making our last shopping trip to Blackpool . This is a weekly occurrence for us but as we are both pensioners and not eligible any more for free transport on the trams we will not be going again. We suffered in Fleetwood for two years during the construction of the revamped tramway and feel we residents in Fleetwood should be entitled to free transport the same as Blackpool pensioners, after all we get rid of all the waste you produce in Blackpool at the Fleetwood sewage works, which I might add we did not want.
Malcolm Chapman .
For many years, prior to the introduction of a national concessionary travel scheme, the fourteen Lancashire councils operated their own countywide scheme without any central government funding.
Each year the fourteen member authorities voluntarily funded discounted travel to encourage the elderly and disabled to remain part of the active local community.
Trams were incorporated into the scheme from the outset.
How sad then, that the original concept so enthusiastically championed by Blackpool, has been abandoned so abruptly.
Obviously nobody has worked out that the amount of money spent in the town centre by residents from Wyre and Fylde far exceeds any lost ticket revenue.
I have visitedBlackpool for over70 years staying with relatives, always used the trams, very impressed with the new trams.Why cant a£2 a day plus senior citizens pass be made get off and on when needed, from 10 am until 4 p.m. I am sure people would paythat. i have a cousin living in Blackpool, she never uses the trams, nor do many locals, I believe. considering the vast amount of money spent on renewing track and the new trams, I would have thought you would be bettergetting some money in from holiday makers than none.
Does this mean that I can’t use my pass on Manchester trams ? I use the Manchester services more than the Blackpool trams. This would be very inconvenient to many of us in the Fylde.
To the best of my knowledge, use of concessionary passes on Metrolink is and always has been officially restricted to residents of the Greater Manchester area.
Very true Ken.
I notice that the double decker lower deck is full after only a few stops and that a pensioners are attempting to use the top deck.It becomes obvious that most of them have not ventured upstairs in years and it worries me to watch them risk serious injury having to do this.
Given that we are talking about the core Blackpool fleet here which is composed entirely of single deck Flexities, I’d say it is dangerous for anyone to attempt to venture ‘upstairs’!!
Very sad to hear the news that passes, are now not accepted on the trams, I can remember, a few years ago during track upgrading, having to travel by bus, from Cleveleys to Fleetwood on market days, and each bus would be packed to capacity, as there was no alternative then. So now we will be going back to those times, whilst watching the trams pass by half, (if not totally), empty!, and it,s “PROGRESS”, that used to be displayed on the trams!, really!.I just hope that in a years time the people that made, this terrible ruling, will reconsider it, and revert back to free concessionary travel, or, at least consider the option of offering pensioners half-fares, surely “half-fares”, are better, than “no-fares*!, as will often be the case when people opt for the bus. Further, to a previous persons comment on here, about disabled people struggling the stairs to a top deck, I do feel a great deal of sympathy, many will now will now have no economical alternative, again, -all very sad.
At the risk of reopening an old wound, why should Blackpool council tax payers subsidise free travel for residents of other towns? I am sure that the residents of let’s say Manchester wouldn’t be too happy about providing free travel on Metrolink for Blackpool residents.
Bye Bye Blackpool !! I suppose 80 years is enough !!
Something of a delayed reaction Ken…
Thankfully evidence of passenger numbers in the six month’s since the change was implemented shows that the withdrawal of enhanced privileges has had a negligible effect, and the OTT knee-jerk comments of a few who stated it was the end of the tramway and they would never visit Blackpool again have been proven to be the rantings of a very small misguided minority.
As a resident of Blackpool with a concessionary pass I am supportive of the decision to withdraw free tram travel for non-residents. The recent half term holidays have shown how popular the trams are with paying travellers. There have been a large number of complaints in the local press about the overcrowding of the trams; the fact that vast numbers of people have been left at tram stops as trams were full to bursting point; tram staff unable to collect some fares because they could not get to passengers and customers unable to get off at stops again because of the sardine-like conditions! So clearly the withdrawal of free concessionary tram travel has had no effect. On the other hand I think there is a case for all concessionary travel to be means tested. I only have the basic old aged pension to live off so it seems unfair that those more fortunate people with vast sums of retirement income or indeed those still working and paying 40% tax should have free travel. Regards to all.