A SURVEY has revealed “overwhelming support” for free travel for pensioners and disabled people, South Yorkshire’s Freedom Riders announced yesterday.

South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) withdrew free train transport for pensioners and disabled people in March, but each week the Freedom Riders have boarded trains in Barnsley without tickets.

They won back free travel for disabled people but not pensioners.

After the PTE carried out a public consultation on the issue but failed to ask questions about concessionary fares, the Freedom Riders decided to ask people themselves.

“Interest was phenomenal,” said Barnsley Retirees Action Group’s Tony Nuttall.

“People were queueing up to fill in the forms.”

The Freedom Riders said the results were “a strong endorsement of the importance of free train travel for older people” after 617 questionnaires were filled in, mainly on the streets of Barnsley, in under four hours — 150 per hour.

Only eight responses were against free travel for the elderly, comparing poorly with 609 in favour.

And 544 wanted free travel at any time — the same as for disabled people — with 65 wanting it off-peak only.

“The very high number wanting restoration of free train travel into West Yorkshire as well as in South Yorkshire is remarkable,” said Mr Nuttall.

“It shows that older people strongly resent being ‘banned’ from travelling into West Yorkshire.”

The findings will be presented to the PTE.