Free pass for blind person, 1936 T.1987.11
“Fares to be taken from all passengers except those with departmental passes or uniform, or Pipe band or Silver band, passes for blind, passes for police.”
Rules and Regulations for Motormen and Conductors, 1950
I know a man who is in a wheelchair and he said he has to give 24 hours notice if he wants to get on a train. I think lot of people don’t realise that this happens. If you don’t have disabled friends you don’t realise that that happens and that makes me quite angry because most people wouldn’t put up with having to plan going shopping 24 hours in advance so that they could get on the train.
I used my Privilege ticket to get to Alwin House in Fife. I didn’t lose my sight until I was 16, and then went to a course to help me learn new skills. I had to travel once a fortnight from Kirkintilloch to Ceres in Fife, and paid half fares with my PT.
I had 2 Blind Person’s Privilege Ticket, or a PT, to get to boarding school in Edinburgh. I had one for SMT buses and one Edinburgh Corporation. THE SMT PT gave me half prices fares but I got free buses in Edinburgh with the other one.
How accessible is public transport now?
I worked the number 31 route, Possil Park route, and it went past the Blind Asylum so I got a lot of the blind passes.
