You may have read in the Manchester Evening News that Greater Manchester is set to get an equivalent of the “Oyster” smartcard scheme available in London. It’s a cute piece of Government spin but don’t expect a smartcard scheme any time soon.
The Government has pledged £2.2m towards the implementation of the scheme. In London, the initial contract (subsequently torn up) was for a minimum of £100m, and that was at 1998 prices. Years later, the scheme is still not available on most National Rail routes, and although I do possess an Oyster card, if I want to visit my friends in Chingford or New Eltham I have to buy a paper travelcard even now.
Although Greater Manchester is smaller, it is also much more complex, with a myriad of small bus companies, unlike London’s franchise system. The idea that £2.2m would even come close to implementing such a scheme is ludicrous – local residents will rightly see this as nothing more than a pre-election gimmick designed not to improve public transport but to grab headlines.
Smart ticketing has my full support, but let’s see a workable proposal first, rather than an inadequate bribe.
Well, its £2.2m we weren’t going to get for a plan B that doesn’t exist…
I expect we’ll be getting more of these token gestures from the Kremlin in the coming months as Labour try to cling power.
You mean like the latest ‘promise’ to electrify (in effect) Preston to Blackpool/Liverpool/Manchester (http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1186040_gordon_browns_article_for_the_men)?
Quite possibly!