Pensioners face £25 transport pass fee

Pensioners face being charged £25 a year for passes to use trains and trams, it emerged today.

The announcement comes as it was revealed transport authority Centro is considering means testing elderly and disabled people who use the Ring and Ride service, asking them to prove they are eligible for the subsidised door to door scheme.

People above the age of 60 currently get to use the rail and Metro services for free at certain times thanks to an add-on to the free bus passes to which they are entitled by law.

However, cash-strapped Centro is being forced to cut £4.5 million off its council tax levy in an attempt to help local authorities in the West Midlands cope with massive savings.

Centro will get £147.5m in 2012-13 from Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall, Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry councils.

Chief executive Geoff Inskip has warned that he cannot rule out job losses, but said efforts were being made to cut costs by not replacing staff when they leave, rather than through redundancies.

As well as charging pensioners for passes to use rail and Metro services after 9.30am, there are warnings of cuts to children's subsidised travel.

Centro's cash-saving ideas include reducing the level of subsidy for child fares, charging older people a £25 annual fee for the rail and Metro pass add-on, and charging for railway station car parking.

Centro has 7,000 park-and-ride spaces at 41 railway and Metro stations, all of which except two are free to use. Bus subsidies account for £8.5m.

A budget of £152m was originally put forward by Centro, but the figure was revised at the request of finance bosses at the seven West Midlands councils.

Unlike councils, Centro is not eligible for a government grant to cover the equivalent of a 2.5 per cent council tax rise.

The proposed levy will be considered by Centro on December 12, although a final decision will not be made until February. Mr Inskip said: "We believe the proposed levy of £147.5m is in line with most districts' financial plans.

"If, however, members decide that further savings are required, then these will need to come from areas which will have an impact on frontline services."

Mr Inskip said about £88m in the proposed levy – 60 per cent of expenditure – was committed to services such as the cost of free bus travel for pensioners, and this was ring-fenced.

The remaining £60m will be spent on Ring and Ride, child and rail and Metro concessions, bus subsidies and other costs such as staffing, management and maintenance – the only areas where Centro can potentially claw back cash.