Watch the Mirror’s Save Our Ticket Offices rally live as we fight railway cull

24 August 2023 , 15:24

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Watch the Mirror’s Save Our Ticket Offices rally live as we fight railway cull

Campaigners are uniting to fight ticket office closures at a Mirror online rally you can take part in today. The Save Our Ticket Offices online rally is being streamed live at the top of this page and on our YouTube channel at 5pm..

Paralympics legend Tanni Grey-Thompson, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and the RMT’s Mick Lynch are joining the event this afternoon. Other guests include Chris Theobald, the campaigns manager of Guide Dogs.

We want to hear from you too. Tell us how losing the offices would impact you. Email [email protected] or post your comments during the broadcast.

Train bosses want to shut ticket counters at 974 stations across England. The Mirror is leading efforts to stop the closures, which will particularly hit the elderly, vulnerable and disabled. Time is running out for passengers to have their say on the cull. Members of the public have until September 1 to take part in the official consultation.

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”.

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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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John Stevens