Member of Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood, the Rt Hon Clare Short is to get free travel on all buses, trains and trams in Birmingham, the Black Country and Coventry.

The former Shadow Secretary of State for Transport (1995 – 96) will receive a travel pass from public transport promoter Centro which gives her free off-peak travel in the West Midlands, to mark her sixtieth birthday.

But this benefit is not an exclusive offer for the MP. Every senior citizen and disabled person in the West Midlands now gets free off-peak travel on all the conurbation’s buses, trains and Midland Metro trams.

She said: “This scheme is a great benefit for thousands of people within my constituency. If more people take advantage of using public transport, it helps to beat congestion and is better for the environment.”

Clare is one of over 50,000 people over sixty that have taken advantage of Centro’s new concession scheme which was launched in July last year, nine months ahead of the national scheme announced by Gordon Brown, which will begin in April.

She will be presented with her new travel pass on Friday (24 February) by Cllr Renée Spector, Birmingham Councillor on the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, which approved the scheme.

She said: “The WMPTA believes strongly in making concessions widely available to give everybody the mobility they deserve.

“The national scheme only offers free off-peak local bus travel, but we feel it is imperative that passes are valid on buses, trains and trams as part of an integrated public transport system. I am very pleased to say that everybody over the age of sixty will be eligible.”