Rishi Sunak told to stop cull of rail ticket offices in major demo outside No10
Mirror readers have delivered a message to Rishi Sunak that he must stop his cull of rail ticket offices. Hundreds of campaigners took the fight to the Prime Minister's doorstep as they joined a rally outside Downing Street.
The Tories are backing controversial proposals drawn up by train bosses to close ticket counters at 974 railway stations in England. Passengers have just hours left to stop their local ticket office closing with the public consultation closing at midnight tomorrow.
Protesters carrying Daily Mirror placards emblazoned with “Save Our Ticket Offices” demanded that rail firms and ministers abandon the plans. They were greeted by honking cars and applause from members of the public. They marched with union banners through Westminster from the Department for Transport to Whitehall, where they gathered outside No10.
RMT union boss Mick Lynch, who organised the rally, told The Mirror he wanted Mr Sunak to "think again" and warned the campaign to stop the cull was not "going away" after the consultation deadline. He stressed: "The key to reversing this is Rishi Sunak instructing Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, to take a new look, make this a meaningful consultation".
With over 500,000 responses to the official consultation, Mr Lynch said: "They can't have half a million responses and just chuck them in the bin." Urging the Government to "dump" the plans, he also accused Mr Sunak of not listening. "He's too busy creating enemies... I think he's trying to make as many target enemies ahead of next year's general election and he's stopped governing."
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The RMT chief Mick Lynch carrying The Mirror's 'Save Our Ticket Offices' placard (ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)He added: "We'll keep the campaign going after tomorrow. This phase of the campaign reaches a milestone tomorrow evening at midnight then we'll be getting on with how we can actually campaign in localities. We're not going away."
The RMT General Secretary also thanked The Mirror for "joining people up" in the fight against the ticket office closures. The union, which represents many rail workers and is fiercely opposed to the plans, has warned that 2,300 station staff jobs are at risk.
Hundreds of protesters descended on Downing Street to demand the PM halts his plans to close rail ticket offices (Nigel Howard)Mr Lynch later told the crowd gathered: “There’s a storm coming, let’s make sure the Tories feel it.” “Everywhere we go, from Edinburgh to Penzance, the communities are coming out along with our disabled brothers and sisters.” Warning that passengers would end up paying more he said: “They will sell you the tickets they want you to have, not the tickets you need or the best value ones.” “These are national assets and we will protect them with all our might.”
The Mirror’s Political Editor John Stevens also told the rally how disabled and elderly readers faced being driven off the railways by the closures. We revealed earlier this week that train firms had admitted passengers could be put at risk of crime while disabled people may be discouraged from travelling. He said: “The message from our readers to rail bosses and to ministers is clear. We do not want our ticket offices closed. We do not want the heart of our communities ripped out. And we will not stand back and let it happen.”
The Mirror's political editor John Stevens at the rally to stop the ticket office closures (Nigel Howard)He highlighted the case of Anthony Jennings, a mobility scooter user from Ulverston in Cumbria. The 56-year-old will no longer be able to use his local station when it is not staffed because it has a barrow crossing. Mr Jennings told the Mirror last week: "Wheelchair and mobility scooter users depend on staff to assist them across the tracks. Northern is proposing to cut the number of staffed hours, with no weekend cover. That will make the station inaccessible."
He also quoted our reader Sheila Cross, a passenger in Rishi Sunak’s patch who argued that if the PM relied on trains instead of his helicopter he would see why his ticket office cull must stop. The 79-year-old uses Northallerton station, in Mr Sunak’s North Yorkshire constituency of Richmond, which will not be staffed after 2pm once the ticket office is closed down. Ms Cross of nearby Newby Wiske said: "He has no understanding of what life is like for the travelling public."
Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi also told the rally the Tory government "seems hell bent on running our railways into the ground" as he vowed to "fight hard to keep our ticket offices open".
The rally against ticket office closures marching past the Houses of Parliament (Guy Bell/REX/Shutterstock)At the rally mum-of-four Shoda Rackal, who is in her 50s, said closing ticket offices would create a “struggle” for mums with children and buggies. “If there isn't any station help, mums with buggies or shopping will be stranded and left to rely on another passenger to help out with extra bags or shopping or to even help with directions for where you need to go or what platform,” she said.
Ms Rackal, who works for Women of Colour GWS crossroads women’s centre in Kentish Town, attended the protest with her 11-year-old son Max. She said she was worried about the “human touch” being lost at stations. “I think we need to be able to speak to someone and get our queries answered which machines can't necessarily do,” she said.
Philip Brown, who travelled from Watford for the protest, said: “Fundamentally the concept of service has gone, there’s just business.” Ruth Levy said she’s concerned about the likelihood of criminals targeting women with no station staff around. She said: “I’m very concerned about women’s safety, you hear horror stories about women with no one to help them, they’re really vulnerable if there’s no one they’re just open to predators.”
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Members and supporters of the RMT Union hold a protest outside the Department of Transport (Nigel Howard)Despite the plans being backed by the Tory government, some senior figures including Jeremy Hunt, have expressed concerns. The Mirror reported last month the Chancellor had complained about the ticket office closures in his own area - a day before the plans were unveiled. Mr Hunt had contacted South Western Railway, which runs services in his South West Surrey constituency, to raise concerns about the impact on local passengers.
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