Jerusalem light rail blames Egged for first-day fare foul-ups

On the first day that the light rail was charging fares, many passengers found that the train did not recognize multi-ride tickets bought on buses.

The first day that the Jerusalem light rail began charging fares, the line's smart ticket system for multi-ride tickets with Egged Israel Transport Cooperative Society Ltd. buses is not working properly. The light rail had been operating free for the past three months.

Operation of the light rail's smart ticket system had been delayed because of the inability to coordinate it with Egged's ticket system. Today, many passengers who tried to use their multi-ride tickets on the train found that it did not recognize the bus fare already paid.

"When I got on the train, I was told, 'This is Egged's money'," said one passenger. "There were 50 other passengers whose tickets were not recognized.

Light rail franchisee Citypass told "Globes" that the source of the error was Egged bus drivers, who continued to load the multi-ride tickets with the old code, instead of the new combined bus and light rail code. Citipass said that Egged had promised that its drivers would be taught the new ticketing procedure.

The incident highlights the Jerusalem light rail's dependence on Egged, which wants to acquire operation of the rail from Citipass shareholder Veolia Transportation.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 1, 2011

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011

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