Transportation minister gives customers a free ride

Crash of electronic travel ticket inspires early morning Facebook gift

The malfunction this morning of the rejsekort, the electronic travel ticket, inspired Magnus Heunicke (S), the transportation minister to take to Facebook and announce that trips for passengers holding the currently useless cards “ought to ride free then”.

READ MORE: Electronic ticket of no use this morning

After Heunicke made his post at 8:11 this morning, DSB decided about 20 minutes later to go along with the minister.

“Our transportation minister said that it should be free, so that is what we are doing,” Christian Linnelyst, DSB's head of sales and products, said in a statement.

DSB had previously warned customers that they should purchase a ticket via other means to avoid being fined for travelling without a ticket.

Heunicke didn’t think it was fair that travellers should be charged again for a trip that they had already purchased via their rejsekort.

Policy via Facebook
Venstre spokesperson Kristian Pihl Lorentzen said that he felt that Heunicke was a bit quick on the social media draw.

“It is somewhat unusual that a minister is making policy via Facebook,” Lorentzen told Politiken newspaper.

"We are not against accommodating passengers,  but it would have been nice to have had a political discussion, so we know what it costs and who should pay,” said Lorentzen. “There will be a bill, and I wonder who the minster intends to send it to.”

Heunicke was clear about who he felt was responsible and said that the bill would go to the transport companies involved: DSB and Rejskortet A/S.

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