Pensioners using bus passes to travel free on trains have doubled passenger numbers on a rural railway this summer (link below.)
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/09/free_pensioners_double_passeng.html#more

Trains on the Heart of Wales line – from Swansea to Shrewsbury via Ammanford , Llandovery and Llandrindod – had to be doubled in length to cope with the influx of people taking free day trips on the scenic line.

Rail managers expected the offer to be popular for the first weeks , but were surprised when passengers continued to pour onto the trains through the rest of the summer , despite the poor weather.

Another pilot brought more passengers to the Conwy Valley line , including some pensioners who were keen to try the train although they refuse to use buses in preference to their cars.

The pilots’ success could leave the Welsh Assembly Government with some hard choices. Extending the concept to other rural areas will require money for extra trains if the additional passengers exceed the spare seats on existing trains.

The two pilots alone are costing the WAG about £150,000 , to compensate Arriva Trains Wales for fares that would otherwise have been paid and to fund the longer train on the Heart of Wales line.

The pilots were launched on May 20 as an extension of free bus travel , offered to pensioners and disabled people since 2002. Residents of counties directly served by the two railways were eligible. Free Heart of Wales travel was offered to inhabitants of Swansea, Carmarthenshire and Powys but not Neath Port Talbot , which almost touches the route at Ammanford.