A DERRY bus company is to scrap free travel for pensioners after being denied access to ticket scanning hardware by Translink.
Airporter has confirmed that after almost 20 years it is to cease its concessionary fare scheme "for the meantime", from January 1, 2018.
Company director Janet McKeever explained that the private operator has never been given access to the hardware that Translink uses to swipe the concessionary passes and as a result has had to take the details by hand, a process which is no longer practical.
In the past five years passenger numbers on the airport shuttle service have almost doubled from 80,000 in 2012 to 150,000 in 2017.
"We have had a sharp rise in the total number of Airporter passengers over the past two years in particular, and cannot continue to take and submit the pass numbers in the way we have been," Mrs McKeever said.
"Having asked this year again for access to the hardware, we have been told that a new system is being installed and that when it is being rolled out that we could gain access, however at this stage that could be several years away and we have made the decision to remove ourselves from the scheme for the meantime," Mrs McKeever added.
In response Translink has said the technology it uses for ticketing is readily available for purchase.
A Translink spokesperson said:
“The ticketing hardware Translink uses is not proprietary. Any company can purchase this hardware from the supplier. We are happy to liaise with Airporter on supplier contacts.”
Airporter was established in 1997 and operates regular bus services between Derry and the three major airports in Northern Ireland.
