Guide Dogs charity signs up to Mirror's Save Our Ticket Offices rally
The Guide Dogs charity has signed up to join Mirror's fight to keep the railway ticket offices open. The Save Our Ticket Offices online rally will be streamed live on the Mirror website via this link and our YouTube channel at 5pm this Thursday.
Chris Theobald, the campaigns manager of Guide Dogs, will take part alongside Paralympics legend Tanni Grey-Thompson, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and the RMT's Mick Lynch. Mr Theobald will share how visually impaired passengers will be affected.
Guide Dogs has called on the Government to rethink the proposals to close ticket offices. Many ticket vending machines are inaccessible for people with sight loss as they rely on silent touchscreens.
A survey by the charity found more than three-quarters of adults with a visual impairment fear the proposed changes will leave them isolated and unable to use the train service confidently.
Sandra Morris, 61, from Devon, who is on the waiting list for a guide dog, said: “Without the ticket office I will not be able to buy my ticket without someone there to help me. I am visually impaired so cannot use self-service machines which are not accessible. This is just another piece of my independence being taken away.”
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Baroness Grey-Thompson, who is one of Britain’s greatest Paralympic athletes, has warned disabled people are being driven off the railways. She has accused train bosses of being “disingenuous” by claiming that shutting offices may actually help disabled passengers. The peer, who regularly travels by train across the country, says in reality the attitude of firms is “we don’t care”.
Mr Lynch, whose RMT union represents many rail workers, has warned the closures could lead to up to 2,300 job losses. He says that cuts on this scale will have “horrific consequences for safety and accessibility at our railway stations”.
Mr Burnham successfully forced rail bosses to extend the consultation on the closures last month after he and four other Labour regional mayors threatened to take them to court. The Greater Manchester Metro Mayor has warned that the closures “will impact the most vulnerable in our society, including older and disabled people”.
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.
But our survey found two thirds (67%) believe it's being done to cut costs, rather than to improve how people are assisted. The Redfield & Wilton survey, conducted for this newspaper, showed 51% oppose the plan to close ticket offices, with just 21% in support.
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.
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