500,000 speak out about ticket office cull as campaigners take fight to No10
Half a million people now have spoken out about plans to close nearly every railway ticket office. Unions and rail workers on Thursday will take the fight to Rishi Sunak’s doorstep as they hold a rally outside Downing Street.
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch warned: “We will not quietly sit back and allow this to happen.” The Tories are backing proposals drawn up by train bosses to close ticket counters at 974 railway stations in England.
Time is running out for passengers to have their say on the cull. Members of the public have until Friday to take part in the official consultation. The total number of people who have had their say has now hit more than 500,000.
The RMT union, which represents many rail workers, on Thursday will march from the Department for Transport. Campaigners will make their way through Westminster past Parliament, before moving up Whitehall to the gates of Downing Street.
Ahead of the rally, Mr Lynch last night said: “We are sending a clear message to the government and profiteering rail operators that our ticket offices must not be closed. The campaign to save our ticket offices has amassed widespread public support and forced an extension of the consultation.
'We can all strike back at Rich Rishi Sunak and vote Tories out'
“However, our campaign will continue beyond the consultation deadline. We need to pressure politicians in every constituency and to highlight the critical role that ticket offices and station staff play in supporting passengers of every type to reach their destinations.”
Mr Lynch added: “Closing ticket offices will lead to the widespread de-staffing of stations and make the railways inaccessible to thousands of disabled, vulnerable and elderly passengers. We will not quietly sit back and allow this to happen. Our members will continue their industrial campaign to save their jobs and to protect railway passengers.” The RMT has warned that 2,300 station staff jobs are at risk.
The Mirror, which is supporting the rally, has been leading efforts to stop the closures, which will particularly hit the elderly, vulnerable and disabled. The National Pensioners’ Convention today said the proposals represent a serious breach of equality laws and must be abandoned.
In a 4,000-word submission to the public consultation, it warned the cull would pose a threat to older passenger’s safety and ability to access services. NPC General Secretary Jan Shortt said: “The ticket office closures programme breaches every known aspect of equality under the UK laws that we all abide by - that is why the NPC submission demands that this proposal is completely abandoned.”
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