EXCL Labour mocks Government after humiliating 'millenials railcard' website crash

Emilio Casalicchio

Labour has torn into the Government after its website offering a flagship ‘millennial railcard’ crashed on its first day of nationwide sales.



Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald mocked the embarrassing muddle and said the promise of the railcard “crashed long before its website did”.

The new railcard for 26 to 30-year-olds - announced by Philip Hammond at the last Autumn Budget - costs £30 and will grant a third off most fares in England, Wales and Scotland.

But it has faced criticism after it emerged just 10,000 are being released as part of a trial - only one for every 500 eligible users.

And the demand from young people flocking to get their hands on one of the new railcards caused the sign-up website to crash when they went on sale at about 7.30 this morning.

Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald fumed: “The Government’s promise to introduce a millennial railcard crashed long before its website did.

“The Tories announced an unfunded policy without a date set for a full nationwide roll out.

“Even if the Government and train companies agree to fund the millennial railcard, it won’t apply to regulated fares and will do nothing for commuters who have seen fares rise three times faster than wages under the Tories.”

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said: "We're sorry to those who have been unable to buy a trial 26-30 Railcard this morning. This is due to the exceptionally high volume of traffic on the 26-30 Railcard website."

They added on Twitter: "We are increasing the capacity on the website to better manage the high level of traffic. Railcards are still available to purchase and people should keep checking @_Railcards Twitter and Facebook pages for updates."

The railcard was announced in a bid to attract the support of young people to the Tories after they overwhelmingly backed Labour at the general election last year.

Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to renationalise the railways if he wins power.