THE South Yorkshire Freedom Riders are celebrating five years of their campaign for free train travel for the elderly and disabled.
The SYFR campaign was set up in 2014 when the right for elderly and disabled people to travel free on trains in South and West Yorkshire was taken away.
The ‘Freedom Rides’ between Barnsley and Sheffield saw the reinstatement of free train travel for the disabled and the elderly allowed to travel on trains in South Yorkshire for half price.
But the campaigning has carried on including fighting to improve travel on buses. George Arthur, secretary of SYFR, said: “We applaud Stagecoach for allowing the elderly to travel free to hospital appointments before 9.30am and to give half price travel on X10 and X17 services before 9.30am.
“We are also pleased that South Yorkshire mayor Dan Jarvis has met with us and is looking at a number of issues we raised with him.”
SYFR are celebrating their fifth birthday with a rally outside Barnsley bus station at 10.30am on Monday and are then travelling through to Sheffield where there will be a large rally outside the train station at noon.
