GOVERNMENT TO CUT ‘LIFELINE’ COACH CONCESSION

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2011 :: RMTnews 10 An unusual alliance of transport campaigners and coach company National Express has sprung up to put pressure on the Con Dem government to reverse the abolition of coach fare subsidies for the elderly and disabled at the end of next month. Buried in the small print of the comprehensive spending review last year was the withdrawal of a £50 million a year grant that halves the price of coach tickets for the elderly and disabled. Under the Coach Concessionary Travel System, the government compensates coach operators by allowing them to recoup some of their fuel costs. The change comes into effect on October 31 sparking opposition to the moves from Britain’s biggest coach operator, the Campaign for Better Transport, Disability Alliance and Age UK. They contend that the grant was abolished without serious consultation or consideration for the ramifications of the decision. They all argue that the abolition of the subsidy will force some routes to close as they become economically unviable, increasing the isolation of rural communities as well as the elderly and disabled. It will also put pressure on household budgets, already strained by rising fuel prices and a 13 per cent rise in some rail fares from next January. However the government has decided that the £20 million saved from slashing the concession should be used to fund the statutory national concession which offers free travel on local bus services throughout England. National Express is the biggest corporate recipient of the s elderly and disabled coach users subsidy, with at least 30 per cent of passengers receiving the grant on 18 routes. The bus and coach operator has written to the Department for Transport and MPs in the most affected communities to ask for an 11th-hour reversal of the decision. The grant was introduced by Labour in 2003 and has proved hugely popular, with 2.9million concessionary journeys made on National Express coaches alone in the past year. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that it was another example of a Tory/Lib Dem government determined to attack the weakest in society in order to fund tax cuts to the rich. “While essential concessions like this are being axed, the Tories are howling for the top rates of tax to be abolished for the richest people in the country,” he said. Sophie Allan of the Campaign for Better Transport said that it had been a hasty and poorly assessed decision. “This is bad news for older and disabled bus passengers but also threatens to tip a number of coach routes into decline and closure, especially in rural and disadvantaged areas,” she said. The move is also contrary to the government’s ambitions to ease car traffic on Britain’s congested motorways. Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director of Age UK said that the coach concession was an effective way of preventing loneliness and social isolation of people in later life. “Age UK is calling on the government to delay plans to cut the concession to allow enough time to consult properly with concession pass holders and operators,” she said. National Express UK Coach managing director Andrew Cleaves also said that withdrawing the concessionary coach travel scheme had not been properly considered. GOVERNMENT TO CUT ‘LIFELINE’ COACH CONCESSION Thousands of elderly and disabled coach users to be hit when half-price fares are scrapped in November