I’m trying to think of a recent train journey which didn’t have an element of disaster for me, and I can’t.
A fifth of the population is Disabled. Two-thirds of rail passengers with disabilities experience barriers to travel according to the Government’s own data.
The closure of ticket offices is a slippery slope to unmanned stations. Disabled people rely heavily on highly trained ticket office staff for journey and timetable information and the purchase of tickets.
The drive to online and machine-based ticket sales is simply not acceptable. The Equality Act is clear: rail firms must make reasonable adjustments for Disabled people and the withdrawal of such staff is a big part of those adjustments.
Ticket offices used to be called information centres and that’s the whole point – it’s not just about selling a rectangle of cardboard, it’s the information to support the journey. It’s the being known by name by staff in local stations. It’s the ensuring that we have the adaptations we need across the whole journey.
It’s knowing how to change trains accessibly at stations, knowing where and when the lifts are out of order, knowing when taxis ordered because of inaccessible footbridges, when tactile paving isn’t on platforms and a friendly member of staff is needed to help someone with visual impairment.
It’s the calming presence of somebody who understands the needs of the neurodiverse person. It’s not simply money in faceless tills. It’s the connection between people which matters.
Removing ticket office staff is dehumanising the whole railway system. At a time when the nation’s mental health is at an all time low, and the antidote to depression and anxiety is human connection, this is being pulled away – and for what?
The outcome will reduce confidence in the whole railway system and end the ability for far too many Disabled people to travel by rail at all.
