(source: Sme)
AFTER free fares were introduced for some groups of passengers on Slovak trains, more than 21,000 tourists have used them; most of them from the Czech Republic. Of these, most were pensioners.
At the end of 2014, the government of Robert Fico came up with a novelty withits so-called social package. This offered free train rides for students and pensioners. The European Union requires the same treatment for pensioners and students coming from other EU countries so this benefit was claimed by many Czechs.
By mid-January 2016, the rail carrier ZSSK recorded more than 868,000 registrations in the system of free transport. The almost half a million passengers travelling for free included 21,258 foreigners.
“In the statistics of foreigners’ registrations, seniors prevail – constituting almost 84 percent; followed by children aged between six and 15 years – 9 percent; and then by students and pupils – 5 percent.
Most foreign registrations were from the Czech Republic with 17,930, followed by Hungary with 952, and Germany with 338 registrations,” ZSSK informed the Hospodárske Noviny daily.
