Vol. 480 No. 8
105 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs whether his Department will introduce free travel passes fitted with a magnetic strip which could be used in the turnstiles located at urban railway stations in view of the fact that their usage would remove the requirement for persons availing of free travel to queue to get a ticket issued to them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15203/97]
Under new arrangements introduced by Iarnród Éireann in August of this year free travel passholders using DART services are required to obtain a ticket including a return ticket if appropriate before commencing their journey, in the same way as other passengers. This is in line with the arrangements already in place for free travel passholders using mainline train services with Iarnród Éireann. Formerly, such passholders were admitted to DART trains on inspection of their pass by station staff, without the need to obtain a ticket. The new arrangements were necessary to facilitate access by all commuters to trains via the automatic turnstiles. While this may involve some level of queuing for free travel passholders in obtaining tickets, any delays involved should only arise during morning and evening peak travel times where the numbers using the DART increase considerably due to commuters travelling to and from work.
Any alteration of the current free travel pass would have implications for the ticketing arrangements for all of the transport operators involved in the free travel scheme. An arrangement of this kind is not feasible in the immediate term but the suggestion will be considered in the context of future development of the scheme and emerging technologies.
