Railway access for disabled will worsen with ticket office closures, warn union bosses

To mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities, today, the RMT said 98 per cent of ticket office staff who took part in its survey said government plans will mean accessing the network will be harder for the elderly and disabled and that closing ticket offices and making passengers get tickets from machines or online will worsen disabled and elderly people’s access to the railway.

The RMT said the Government has amended its guidance relating to changes to ticket office opening hours, clearing the way for train operating companies to cut or close ticket offices at stations across the country – warning Mansfield, Worksop and Retford ticket offices could also be under threat.

It said staff also dispute the Government’s suggestion ticket office closures are about “getting staff from behind glass screens”, with 97 per cent saying the plans would lead to less staffing at stations, while nearly 80 per cent have already experienced a reduction in staffing at their station in the last year.

Mick Lynch, RMT general secretary said: "The plan to close ticket and booking offices would be a travesty for disabled and elderly people who want to travel on the rail network.

“Our members are experts in knowing the needs of passengers and know this closure programme will be a disaster for the travelling public.

“The government should see sense and scrap these damaging proposals.”

East Midlands Railway, which operates train services on the Robin Hood Line between Nottingham and Worksop, via Newstead, Kirkby, Sutton Parkway, Mansfield, Mansfield Woodhouse, Shirebrook and Langwith-Whaley Thorns stations, has previously declined to comment on the issue.

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, previously said: “The pandemic has been an unprecedented financial shock to the railway.

“While no decisions have been taken over ticket offices, with the acceleration of changing travel patterns and more passengers migrating to digital technology, many jobs will need to change to become more passenger-centric.

“Train companies want to work with unions on how to address those changes, while making sure the industry takes no more than its fair share from the taxpayer.”