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Trains and the subway
Concessionary train travel.
Some local councils offer over-60 and disabled people free or discounted train travel. Visit the National Rail Enquiries website to check if this is available in your area.
Only holders of National Entitlement Cards can get concessionary train travel. Visit Transport Scotland to find out how to apply.
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If you have a disability that makes travelling by train difficult, you might qualify for the Disabled Persons Railcard. You'll get a third off most train fares throughout Great Britain. If you're travelling with an adult companion, they can get the same discount.
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Rail travel assistance for disabled passengers
Train companies usually arrange for staff to meet you at your departure station, accompany you to the train and see you safely on board.
Similar arrangements can be made at your destination station and other stations if you need to change trains. For example, ramps can be provided for wheelchair users.
For further information, visit the ScotRail website.
The Subway (Glasgow)
The Subway in Glasgow has some accessibility features:
- wheelchairs are allowed in the subway if folded
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- ticket offices have amplification equipment for customers with hearing problems
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Author: Rail Technology Magazine
Published: November 1st 2012
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The Saltire card
Source: Rail Technology Magazine October/November 2012
The Scottish Government is introducing a country-wide travel smartcard to improve access across all different modes of transport. Kate Ashley reports.
In October, the Scottish Government announced plans for the Saltire Card – a smartcard that can be used across public transport networks in Scotland.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launched the project, which will allow passengers to pre-load money to use on trains, buses, ferries, subways and trams to deliver cash-free travel and boost tourism.
It could also offer the opportunity for cut-price travel and flexible pricing.
Government initiative
The Scottish Government is working with ScotRail to deliver the largest rail smart ticketing pilot in the UK, as a key element of the new franchise from 2014.
Sturgeon said: “The Saltire Card will be a hugely exciting development for transport in Scotland and will help us achieve a truly worldclass public transport network.
“It will make it easier, more a t t r a c t i v e and possibly cheaper for people to get around using public transport and will help further connect our cities.
“While we are aware that there is still some substantial work to do on this proposal, we are now taking the first steps towards achieving this vision by launching a series of demonstrator schemes with a number of operators and public sector partners throughout the country.
“Bus operators are already Smart Card-enabled and many are already working in partnership with Transport Scotland to see how they can fully realise the benefits of the technology and how they can integrate with other operators to share those benefits with passengers.”
Multi-modal
Transport Scotland told RTM that the organisation has been working with local authorities, regional transport partnerships and transport operators to develop a number of demonstrator projects across Scotland, across modes and focusing on a number of different types of smart products. Further demonstrator projects are continuing to be established in the wake of the publication of the Delivery Strategy.
Considering the advantages of multimodal smart-ticketing, a spokesperson said: “Multi-modal smart products will take us towards our vision that all journeys on Scotland’s bus, rail, ferry, subway and tram networks can be accessed using some form of smart ticketing or payment.
“For passengers this should deliver ease of use, access to new ticket types and greater choice on how to pay for travel, and should lead to modal shift towards public transport. We particularly see new opportunities to develop smart products that are attractive to visitors to Scotland.”
As the industry recognises the importance of integrated transport, this kind of scheme could become more common, and is certainly something the English railway will be keeping its eye on as smartcard schemes are continually developed and rolled out.
The spokeswoman explained: “The aim of the demonstrator projects is to develop several different types of smart products, some of which will be integrated and some of which will be more aimed at the more established ticket types. In all cases, the cooperation of industry partners is absolutely essential.
“We are working hard to bring all of Scotland’s public transport operators in on the Saltire Card so that they can also realise the benefits of attracting more people onto public transport. If there is widespread demand for integrated products we want to be in a position to meet that demand.”
Compatibility
The challenges surrounding the scheme concern the huge scale of the operation, and the number of different modes of transport the card must be made compatible for.
The spokesperson concluded: “We are aware that there are a number of challenges, for example, making the Smart Card technology compatible for use on ferries. We have around 260 bus operators alone in Scotland, alongside our ferry, train, subway and soon our tram operators. So we are under no illusion that it will be an easy task to develop what will be the UK’s biggest smartcard project.
“However, the stream of work is already well underway specifically targeting each of these challenges."
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Saltire card to give travellers the freedom of Scotland
A travel smartcard similar to London’s Oyster card is to be trialled in Scotland in the hope of making public transport cheaper and simpler.
The new “Saltire Card” could make public transport “more attractive and possibly cheaper”, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish government’s deputy first minister, said yesterday.
The Scottish government wants all journeys on bus, rail, ferry, subway and tram networks to be taken using some form of smart ticketing or payment.
The smartcard allows operators to collect more personal information about customers and increase their marketing opportunities. It will also offer passengers more ways to pay for their travel, and is designed to appeal to tourists to make it easier to travel.
In March 2011, the government travel body Transport Scotland (TS) found a “limited appetite” for integrated ticketing amongst operators amid concerns that the benefits may not be achievable in a deregulated market. All of Scotland’s 7,100 buses are already equipped with smart-ticketing machines to administer free bus passes for pensioners and disabled people.
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Ms Sturgeon said: “While we are aware that there is still some substantial work to do on this proposal, we are now taking the first steps towards achieving this vision by launching a series of demonstrator schemes with a number of operators and public sector partners.
“Bus operators are already smartcard-enabled and many are already working in partnership with TS to see how they can fully realise the benefits of the technology.”
The Scottish government’s nationwide concessionary travel system is the biggest smart ticketing scheme outside London, with over a million cardholders and 146 million journeys per year. The government cannot deliver smart ticketing on its own, so TS is working with operators, local authorities and regional transport partnerships on projects.
However, Richard Baker, Labour’s infrastructure spokesman, said: “Whether it’s cashless, integrated ticketing or wifi on our main commuter line between Glasgow and Edinburgh, it seems that what is taken for granted elsewhere in the UK seems to take forever to deliver in Scotland.
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