Free Travel Pass to and within NI

Doltanian

Could a person with a Free Travel Pass take the bus to Newry X1 from Busarus and give a few hours there and then continue to use it to travel up to Belfast after. I'm not sure if this would be allowed as it would constitute as travel within Northern Ireland and not cross border travel. Similarly would it be possible to do it on the Enterprise Service? And is it possible to use the Free Travel Card to go from Belfast to Derry by train or would this constitute as internal Northern Travel or would it be classified as Cross Border Travel if you were only changing trains in Belfast for Derry.

magicbastarder

based on what my parents have told me - and more informed people can clarify - you can get free travel within the north for over 65s, but need to apply via a separate application process. an ROI travel pass on its own does not cover travel internally within the six counties, but the option is available on application.

dashcamdanny

I believe it has to be a smart pass to work in NI. But is valid on both sides.

Not valid in Great Britain though.

rameire

half way down the page on this link.

Linky McLinky

Look for "Senior SmartPass for travelling in Northern Ireland"

XPS_Zero

Doltanian wrote: »

Could a person with a Free Travel Pass take the bus to Newry X1 from Busarus and give a few hours there and then continue to use it to travel up to Belfast after. I'm not sure if this would be allowed as it would constitute as travel within Northern Ireland and not cross border travel. Similarly would it be possible to do it on the Enterprise Service? And is it possible to use the Free Travel Card to go from Belfast to Derry by train or would this constitute as internal Northern Travel or would it be classified as Cross Border Travel if you were only changing trains in Belfast for Derry.

In my experience you won't get a bus ticket that will let you do it like that. You can do it with the train. The rules say (unless you have a NI Smartpass) you can break your journey cross border as long as your first destination on the ticket is on one side of the border and your final destination is on the other side.

You can only do it with one transport mode, you can't change from bus to train or vice versa. They will usually give you an open return. If all your places can't be reached by that one ticket (ie you need to take a bus) you can just pay for the bus journey, I've had to do that before their PT up there is not that expensive esp the busses. The travel pass tickets (like all tickets) give you the free bus journey between the city centre and train in Newry and Belfast Central OR you can change trains in Belfast Central and get off in Great Victoria Street.

So if you have a ticket that has the final destination as Belfast Central (or Derry) then yes you can get off and back on and they won't care. It's the same as breaking an Intercity journey going from Cork to Dublin. The trains more comfortable anyway.

If you want unlimited travel WITHIN the north you need to apply for their version of the free travel pass (when Seamus Brennan was making the FT pass all Ireland they told him they didn't trust our DSP not to be total incompetents and wanted to make us get their passes in the north and get to use theirs down south - he agreed, knowing full well the DSP is indeed full of incompetents). This one lets you get on and off trains, busses anywhere anytime the ticket does not have to be cross border like with the Irish pass.

danm14

Doltanian wrote: »

Could a person with a Free Travel Pass take the bus to Newry X1 from Busarus and give a few hours there and then continue to use it to travel up to Belfast after.

If you specifically wanted to travel by bus and not train, didn't want to or weren't entitled to apply for the ROI Senior SmartPass, and didn't want to pay for any travel but were happy to spend longer travelling, you could travel from Dublin to Dundalk with Bus Eireann or Matthews Coaches, and then from Dundalk to Newry with Bus Eireann or Halpenny Travel (asking for a ticket to Belfast instead of Newry in Dundalk)

As there are no direct bus services from Dundalk to Belfast, you would have to switch bus in Newry anyway, and as your ticket has a date but no time on it, the driver wouldn't know how long you had spent in Newry.

Alternatively, you could travel from Dublin to Newry using your FTP, then pay for the bus to Belfast from Newry.
For an adult, the bus from Newry to Belfast is £9.50 single, £17.00 day return before 9:30 AM, £11.30 day return after 9:30 AM.
On Sundays and every day during NI school holidays, a Rambler ticket costs £9.00 and gives unlimited travel within Northern Ireland on all buses from 9:15 AM (and also on all trains from 6:30 PM).

zell12

Do you have to pre-book the Translink bus Dublin Airport-Newry. Or is it as simple as showing your FTP?

And returning, just show your card in Newry station?