Letter: There should be uproar over the plan to cut the age at which people get free transport in Northern Ireland

In June of this year the Department for Infrastructure issued a ‘Consultation on changes to the Concessionary Fares Scheme’ - or, in plainer terms, the future of free travel. Some its key proposals include: changing the qualifying age for a Smart Pass from 60 to the current pension age of 66; restricting the time a Smart Pass can be used to after 9.30 in the morning; cancelling the use of a Smart Pass on trains – making it bus only; charging a fee for a Smart Pass

Anywhere else these types of proposals would have been met with a roar of condemnation and a justified outburst of righteous indignation. Not here though. But it is not just a disillusioned public that has not raised its voice. The absence of comment from the main political parties has been staggering. If there is no outcry over withdrawing or restricting the right to free travel for the over 60s and for people with a disability, then when it comes to charging for prescriptions, installing water meters, raising university fees and privatising household waste collections, then the precedent will have already been set.

The consultation paper is available on the Department for Infrastructure’s website. I would urge as many people and organisations as possible to make their views known before the closing date, and to support meetings and protests being held against restrictions on free travel.

Tony Walls, Workers Party Belfast