The first step is clearly to eliminate the fraud in the current system with a proper smartcard pass
There are too many exceptions and holes in the rules, its far too easy to get a pass. The whole companion routine is likely to be the first to go, can see no social justification for that, except where there is a medical requirement.
There are 700k passes, total annual budget for the program 75 million, thats basically one return trip Dublin Cork by rail for everyone (the true number is over 1million due companion passes). There is no audit trail on usage so there is no actual market value on the service used, but it pretty clear 75 million doesn't come close to the cost of the service provided.
Northern Ireland manages to administer a free travel system with a proper id card, virtually zero fraud and a complete audit trail on pass usage. So its possible .
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