Make Transport Accessible receives reply on ticket office petition
As part of the #MakeTransportAccessible campaign, our partners at Thomas Pocklington Trust co-signed a letter with the National Federation of the Blind of the UK regarding the Governments’ proposed changes to the staffing at railway stations and on train services across the UK.
The proposed changes include closing all ticket offices down, reducing staff and removing guards (also known as train managers or conductors) on trains. We are concerned at the impact on safety, security and accessibility that this might have.
The petition also urged the Government to ensure improved safety, security and accessibility at all unmanned stations in the UK. It called for all stations that are currently unmanned to be manned at all times. It is totally unacceptable that blind and visually impaired passengers, along with other disabled and vulnerable train passengers, have no railway staff at the stations to ask for help, to purchase tickets, for advice, and to meet their safety, security and accessibility needs.
The petition reads:
1: For all ticket offices to remain open and all manned stations to remain manned at all times with safe level of staffing
2: For all trains to have guards (also known as train managers or conductors) at all times
3: For all unmanned stations to become manned at all times with safe level of staffing
We have received a reply to the petition from the Rail Delivery Group, the British rail industry membership body. You can read the reply below.
Publication date: 13 February 2023