Passenger
watchdogs


Transport
Focus
and
London
TravelWatch
are
due
to
reveal
their
recommendations
concerning
ticket
office
closures
tomorrow.

Operators
in
England
have
proposed
the
closure
of
more
than
900
offices,
and
the
largest
stations
such
as
Birmingham
New
Street,
Glasgow
Central
and
London
Waterloo
are
included
in
their
lists.

The
Department
for
Transport
wants
to
reduce
railway
costs
by
closing
the
offices
and
moving
the
affected
staff
on
to
station
concourses.
The
devolved
governments
in
Scotland
and
Wales
have
distanced
themselves
from
the
DfT’s
plans,
and
are
not
proposing
office
closures
on
their
networks.

Critics,
including
the
RMT,
have
argued
that
no
consultation
would
be
needed
to
make
staff
outside
the
ticket
offices
redundant
at
a
future
date,
and
the
union
is
predicting
that
thousands
of
jobs
would
be
at
risk.

RMT
general
secretary
Mick
Lynch
said:
‘Around
750,000
passengers
have
responded
to
the
consultation,
making
it
the
biggest
ever
response
to
a
public
consultation
with
98
per
cent
of
passengers
who
have
responded
opposing
the
closures.

‘We
know
that
watchdogs,
rail
companies
and
government
have
had
behind
closed
doors
discussions
in
recent
weeks.

‘It
would
be
a
great
betrayal
of
passengers
if
the
response
to
such
widespread
opposition
to
the
closures
was
a
stitch
up
which
still
paves
the
way
for
ticket
office
closures
and
the
loss
of
potentially
thousands
of
railway
station
jobs.

‘The
passenger
watchdogs
and
ultimately
the
government
must
listen
to
rail
passengers
and
abandon
the
ticket
office
closure
programme,
ensuring
that
there
will
be
no
cuts
to
our
station
staff
who
are
so
vital
for
passenger
advice,
accessibility
and
safety.’