![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_CanT-Buy-A-Ticket-Using-My-Smart-Card-Account.jpg\")
(Image: Anthony Robson)<\/p>\n“It\u2019s all got ridiculously frustrating”(Image: Anthony Robson)<\/p>\n
A disabled Metrolink passenger says they have been accused of fare dodging for the last 10 YEARS due to an \u2018archaic\u2019 ticket system.<\/p>\n
Anthony Robson has a disabled person\u2019s smart card for the Bee Network because his epilepsy means he \u2018cannot drive\u2019. The 43-year-old should be able to buy concessionary tickets for the tram, and load them onto his smart card.<\/p>\n
The idea is disabled people can then tap their smart card on a Metrolink<\/a> platform reader like a normal bank card. But the scientific researcher says \u2018archaic\u2019 technology means he often cannot log in to his account online to buy tickets \u2014 and when he does get in, it sometimes only shows him his old smart card that expired in 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very frustrating. It\u2019s been going on for years, I complained numerous times and it\u2019s all got ridiculously frustrating. They are not responding to my complaints,\u201d Anthony said.<\/p>\n Anthony works near Manchester Royal Infirmary on Oxford Road<\/a>, and commutes in from Navigation Road near Altrincham<\/a> four-days-a-week. His job often means he needs to be in by 7am, so he has to purchase a concessionary ticket as disabled people are only eligible for free travel after 9:30am.<\/p>\n The Bee Network app does not offer concessionary tickets so disabled people need to buy them the night before travel, because it can take hours to load onto smart cards. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said it is working to improve the situation by autumn 2026.<\/p>\n Recently, Anthony was told by the computer system his card \u2018does not have any space for more tickets\u2019. He added: \u201cIt said \u2018please contact us for more details\u2019. I would hope they would contact me about that.\u201d<\/p>\n TfGM launched a fare-dodging crackdown in the last two years, putting hundreds more inspectors on trams and platforms. But Anthony\u2019s IT issues means he often has to \u2018get my email\u2019 receipt to prove he has paid his way.<\/p>\n It\u2019s led him to call on bosses to waive fares for people in his position: \u201cIf TfGM can fix this in the long-term, then I am happy to pay a concession fare, but while the problem is ongoing and I am being accused of fare-dodging it should be free.\u201d<\/p>\n TfGM has apologised to Anthony. A spokesperson said: \u201cWe are sorry to hear about the problems this customer has been experiencing when buying a concessionary Metrolink ticket before 9.30am.<\/p>\n \u201cA technical issue has been identified with the smartcard system that can occur during the process of purchasing and storing of tickets. We are working urgently to resolve this customer\u2019s issue by the end of this week at the latest.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Customer Service team will be contacting Mr Robson to provide further information and advice regarding his case.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“It\u2019s all got ridiculously frustrating”(Image: Anthony Robson) A disabled Metrolink passenger says they have been accused of fare…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[8916,748,393,4884,2465,26383,8825,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-645962","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-andy-burnham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-metrolink","14":"tag-transport-for-greater-manchester","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115756815690045319","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Ticket-Machine-Out-Of-Service.jpg\")
(Image: Anthony Robson)<\/p>\n