Free Travel Pas for N Ireland

Economics101 · 08-06-2023 10:35pm #1

You can easliy get a ticket to Be;fast by filling out a form at Connolly. But you are entitled to a Senior SmartPass Card for free travel within NI. Great.

However the application process is antediluvian (even for Seniors!)😊

Here is what it says on the relevant Irish Government website:

Application forms (FTNI1) for Senior SmartPass Cards are available from your local:

The completed application form must be brought to your local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office in person (not posted or emailed). You must also bring the following documents with your application form to your Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office:

a recent passport standard colour photograph
evidence of your identity (driving licence/passport/any other form of photo ID, if available)
evidence of address (a recent utility bill, for example electricity/gas/phone/waste charges bill or a bank/building society/credit union statement) and
current Free Travel Card

Your application will be forwarded to the authorities in Northern Ireland who will send your Senior SmartPass card and instructions for use, directly to your home address. It may take up to six weeks to process your application.

Even if they took the elementary step of enabling one to download the FTNI1 form. Making you rock over to the local Social Welfare office in person and then wat 6 weeks for them to issue the pass is plain ridiculous.

L1011 · 09-06-2023 9:52am

With no Stormont there is no way to improve the "forwarded to the authorities in Northern Ireland" bit, and I imagine they are the ones insisting on the forms being verified in person too.

goingnowhere · 09-06-2023 12:59pm

The NI authorities having seen the mess of the Irish Free Travel scheme have set a much higher bar, no companions, no weird exceptions

Hilly Bill · 13-06-2023 11:19am

The cross border form has been done away with.

bikeman1 · 13-06-2023 12:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120708721#Comment_120708721

What is the process for obtaining a FTP return to say Belfast on the Enterprise now? My parents may avail of this soon, so it would be good to know.

danm14 · 15-06-2023 11:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120708968#Comment_120708968

"Return to Belfast, please" - the same as a journey within the Republic.

AngryLips · 15-06-2023 11:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120720430#Comment_120720430

Yes but it doesn't entitle you to free travel within NI

danm14 · 15-06-2023 11:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120720451#Comment_120720451

All Free Travel Passes, regardless of the reason for entitlement, entitle the holder (and their spouse or companion if applicable) to free cross-border travel. You can travel for free within Northern Ireland as long as it is part of a cross-border journey - even if one or more changes of bus or train en route is required, once the ticket is made out to your final destination (for cross-border bus journeys the driver issues a handwritten ticket).

If you have a Free Travel Pass because you are over 66, you can get a separate ROI Senior SmartPass entitling you (but not your spouse or companion, even if your Free Travel Pass has this entitlement) to travel for free within Northern Ireland even if it is not part of a cross-border journey. This is not available to those who have a Free Travel Pass for reasons other than age (e.g. disability or being a carer).

Economics101 · 15-06-2023 11:16pm

Went to the local INTREO office to get the NI travel pass application form. Apparently the form plus photo is sent to HULL (!!!) for processing, and after 6 weeks you get your pass. This has nothing to do with Stormont not functioning: it has allways been thus from when the scheme was initiated. It's a total Dog's Bo**ox and there are no valid excuses. Why Hull, for heaven's sake: is it some mad DUP thing to signify NI as part of the UK just like Hull?

The simple form available at Connolly was for a rail ticket to NI.A friendly official advided me to buy a return ticket as some unfortunates had bought singles to Belfast or whereever and got stung for the return journey.

Not having the form downloadable ihas nothing to do with Stormont, just good old Irish Civil Service at its laziest.

AngryLips · 16-06-2023 5:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120720491#Comment_120720491

"Apparently the form plus photo is sent to HULL"... "just good old Irish Civil Service at its laziest" 🤔

danm14 · 16-06-2023 9:36am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120720491#Comment_120720491

A company based in Hull, Paragon ID, manufacture the majority of public transport smartcards used in the UK. It would seem more, rather than less, efficient for the form to be sent directly to the manufacturer rather than first being sent to Translink in Belfast to be forwarded on.

If you opt for a single ticket to Belfast (or lose your return ticket), you do not need to pay for the return journey. The pass is valid for cross-border travel in both directions, not just ROI-NI, and Translink can issue both one way and return tickets starting in Northern Ireland. A person living in Inishowen, for example, can use it on the train from Derry via Belfast to Dublin and back. For any cross-border travel you continue to use your Free Travel Pass, the Senior SmartPass is only for travel wholly within Northern Ireland (although Ulsterbus will in practice accept either pass on cross-border services).

There is no longer a need to complete a form to obtain a cross-border rail ticket - you simply hand over your pass and state your destination, the same as for travel within the Republic.

Economics101 · 16-06-2023 9:41am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120721179#Comment_120721179

Nothing you say excuses the 6-week processing time. Do all UK smartcard users have to wait anything like this for a card? It's the same lazy do-nothing mindset which does not have the forms online in PDF format for downloading.

This is Stone-age stuff.

danm14 · 16-06-2023 4:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120721204#Comment_120721204

Yes, the same processing time applies to passes for Northern Ireland residents, and the forms are not available online in Northern Ireland either.

In fact, the process is actually more convenient for those in the Republic - there are far, far more Intreo/Social Welfare offices in the Republic than manned bus and rail stations in the North, and people applying from the Republic are not required to have their form and photograph countersigned by a person of good standing who has known them for two years (e.g. a doctor, police officer, solicitor - similar to a passport application) like those applying from the North must.

See https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/60-smartpass-and-senior-65-smartpass

Economics101 · 16-06-2023 5:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120723253#Comment_120723253

Well, it's the UK that's in the Stone Age then. Whoulda thunk?😊

shedhappy · 17-06-2023 6:21pm

I'm an owl codger resident in NI and have a Smart Pass and, as I'm often traveling within Ireland ,anyone advise if/how I could get an Irish one?

L1011 · 17-06-2023 6:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120720847#Comment_120720847

This bit of the process is entirely in the hands of the UK.

Vic_08 · 17-06-2023 7:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120727480#Comment_120727480

You can't and you don't need one, NI Senior SmartPass is valid in ROI.

Charles Babbage · 18-06-2023 10:07am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120727694#Comment_120727694

How are the NI Smartpasses organised, if people get them at 60 but are only valid in ROI at 66?

Economics101 · 18-06-2023 10:27am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120729370#Comment_120729370

NI residents get them at 65, RoI at 66.

shedhappy · 18-06-2023 10:59am

I'm that old NI codger Vic-08 says my Smart Pass will work in Ireland. Well, for example, when I presented mine to a bus-driver in Salthill going into Galway, he had no way of scanning it and said 'Aw well just go to the back of the bus'. So without scanning/no record of trips the bus companies wouldn't get compensated. That simply can't be and there must be a way of obtaining an Irish equivalent. That's what I'm after.

Economics101 · 18-06-2023 11:48am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120729534#Comment_120729534

You make a very good point. What you say shows how sloppy revenue protection and general enforcement of rules are in the RoI. I can get 50% discount on rail travel in parts of the EU, but my Passport number is entered on the ticket so that my eligibility can be checked by the inspector.

Vic_08 · 18-06-2023 5:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120729370#Comment_120729370

The 60-65 pass in NI is a separate pass that is not included in cross-border travel, it is a different colour and easily identified.

L1011 · 26-06-2023 8:05am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120729534#Comment_120729534

Irish transport companies are paid a block amount to accept the passes, not a per trip payment.

Free Travel Pas for N Ireland

Comments