Rail chief warns machines can't sell 1 in 4 tickets amid station office cull
A rail chief has warned a quarter of train tickets can’t be delivered by a machine amid plans to shut 974 rail offices across England. Mick Whelan said closing offices was a “poor policy and inherently unsafe” and would deny people the ability to travel around the UK.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, the head of the train drivers’ union Aslef piled pressure on the Government to backtrack on the “awful” decision as he said the technology is not there to support it.
Mr Whelan also raised fears that safety is being taken for granted as he suggested rail workers and passengers will be more at risk in empty and unstaffed stations. “Our biggest problem during the pandemic was because the turnstiles were open, it became the place for kids and other people to go, travel on trains for nothing, sit in the station because there was nowhere else to go. Nothing was open because of lockdowns,” he said.
Mick Whelan said the move was 'basically denying people with visible disabilities and unseen disabilities the ability to travel in the UK' (PA)“We still have a hangover in many rural areas whereby at certain times of day or night, I've got members who don't want to drive on certain routes because they don't feel safe.” Mr Whelan said train stations could be forced to close their doors if they become too unsafe. “If you can’t guarantee staff and passenger safety then those stations shouldn’t be open. The trouble is I don't want people not travelling, so what do you do? People have to feel confident,” he said.
“The railways are an alien environment to most people. Most people that commute have a set journey so when they go anywhere different, they're always asking questions. Where do I go? Am I going in the right place? Do I get off here? Where do you get that information - you either get it from a visible presence on the train or you get it from a ticket office. When you take away all the staff at all the stations, you are basically denying people with visible disabilities and unseen disabilities the ability to travel in the UK.”
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Meanwhile Mr Whelan questioned whether it was even logistically possible to shut almost all ticket offices. “We actually don't have the technology that they’re saying we’ve got, so 25% of all tickets can't be delivered by machine currently,” he said.
The proposal to shut counters at stations across England could lead to 2,300 job losses, according to the Rail, Maritime and Transport union. RMT chief Mick Lynch has also warned the plans would penalise older people and disabled people. He told the Mirror on Wednesday: "They don't empathise with what these people's needs are because they haven't thought about them going forward.There is a big element of age and disability discrimination in these proposals. In some ways, it is through complete ignorance because they didn't even put the consultation materials out in an accessible format.”
The Mirror, which is backing a campaign to save ticket offices, will host an online rally on Thursday August 24 at 5pm with Tanni Grey-Thompson, Andy Burnham and Mr Lynch to fight against closures. Members of the public have until September 1 to give feedback on the proposals. The Mirror's online event will be streamed live on the Mirror's website, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter channels. A Mirror poll found just one in five voters back the plan to close almost every railway ticket office. Train bosses have claimed that it will lead to more staff helping passengers on platforms.
The Government is supporting the mass closure of ticket offices, but several Tory ministers have criticised closures in their own areas including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick.
Aslef announced today it will take one day of strike action on Friday, September 1 as its pay dispute with rail companies continues.
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