The pilot project trialling free companion travel for people with the National Entitlement Card for blind people (with the eye symbol on it) started in April 2025 and is continuing until April 2026.
The so called Eye +1 card allows people who have the eye symbol on their National Entitlement Card to travel for free on any train service in Scotland as far as Carlisle and Berwick-upon-Tweed, but not further into England. This includes travel on any rail service provider including Avanti, LNER, Scotrail and the TransPennine Express.
Their companion can also travel for free on any rail service (Scotrail, Avanti, LNER or TransPennine Express) for the portion of the journey that they are accompanying the card holder, up until Carlisle and Berwick upon Tweed. The companion does not have to start or finish their journey with the card holder, but can join the cardholder for a portion of the journey e.g. joining the cardholder at Huntly on a train journey from Aberdeen to Elgin, and they do not have to stay on the train with the cardholder for example, the companion can leave the train at Carnoustie if the cardholder is travelling to Dundee. It is the companion’s responsibility to cover the cost of any leg of the journey in which they are not accompanying the card holder.
Sight Scotland, who organised the campaign, and Transport Scotland who have overall responsibility for accessible travel in Scotland, have recently sent out feedback forms to gather information about the effectiveness of the pilot. If you have made use of the scheme, hopefully you were able to share your experiences, good or bad.
We will hear in due course how effective the pilot was and what will happen at the end of the pilot period and will keep you posted.
