THE 40-year-old Saveaway ticket has finally come of age - and is to become an electronic, the first product on the much talked about Walrus smartcard.
And the tickets, with a £1 activation charge, will be available from around 800 PayPoint outlets across Merseyside, meaning no more scratching around for the scratch off cards which offer all-day off peak travel on Merseyside's trains, buses and ferries.
But don't all rush down to the local Bread & Wine shop at once. Merseytravel, which administers the card, says the roll out will be staged across the county, starting with Wirral on November 24. The rest of Merseyside will have caught up by the end of March.
Three million Saveaways were sold last year and Merseytravel says the new card will make the area one of the top regions outside London, in terms of smart ticketing transactions.
It says: "For a limited period, up to April 2015, people will be able to get a smart card for free on purchasing a Saveaway. From April onwards there will be a £1 activation charge for all new cards. The card is designed to be kept, re-used and, longer term, to host other ticketing products."
Walrus Card
"A strategy outlining what Merseyside’s smart ticketing future will look like is being developed," says Merseytravel. "Operators are currently working with Merseytravel to agree recommendations that will inform the strategy."
Councillor Liam Robinson, Chairman of Merseytravel added: “Saveaway is just the start. We have to start somewhere. We were keen to get smart ticketing under way but we are taking a reasoned, incremental approach to it.
“We’re thinking of the bigger picture and want to start taking our customers on a journey – a journey we have to take in order to have a world class network with services to match.”
As not all current Saveaway retailers will have the facility to retail smart Saveaways, there will be a phasing out of scratch off Saveaway tickets at these outlets over a two month period from the time the scheme is introduced in each area.
Smart Saveaways will not be available from rail stations, but people will still be able to purchase rail-ticket style Saveaways.
