Pension

Pensioners attack ‘completely mad’ plans to shut railway station ticket offices


Older people will be forced off trains and confined to their homes if proposals to close station counters are given the green light, warn campaigners

Nearly 1,000 station ticket offices could be closed(Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock)

OAPs tonight step-up their fight against “completely mad” plans to close hundreds of railway station ticket offices.

Transport bosses want to axe nearly 1,000 ticket counters across the network claiming they are no longer needed because most passengers buy online, via smartphone apps or at station machines. Campaigners say the move will discriminate against the elderly, who are less likely to book over the internet or using apps – meaning they will be forced off trains and more likely to be confined to their homes,




Writing exclusively for the Mirror, National Pensioners’ Convention general secretary Jan Shortt says: “This is not about being a Luddite, it is purely the right to travel and access tickets in the manner best suited to an individual.” Stressing that “for older and disabled people, having staff in the ticket office is an absolute necessity”, she adds: “The proposal to close nearly every ticket office in the country is complete madness and takes no account of the various needs of passengers using the rail franchises.”

National Pensioners’ Convention general secretary Jan Shortt

Rail chiefs hope to cut costs by closing ticket counters at 974 stations. They say staff will be switched to concourses and platforms – making them more accessible to passengers. The scheme to slash the number of ticket counters came after Transport Secretary Mark Harper urged operators to rein in spending following the coronavirus pandemic, when passengers deserted the railway.

Dennis Reed, director of the over-50s campaign group Silver Voices, said it “holds the Government directly responsible for the draconian proposal to close almost all ticket offices in England because the Conservatives have given the green light to the rail operators to rush this through over the holiday season”.

He added: “These proposals are clearly discriminatory against older people and those with disabilities as it is predominantly these groups who will be unable to buy tickets digitally and who require physical help at the stations. Thousands more senior citizens will be cut off from modern society and isolated in their own homes.”

Dennis Reed, director of the over-50s campaign group Silver Voices(Collect Unknown)

The Mirror, campaigners and unions are fighting the move and a consultation on the proposals has been extended until the end of this month. But Mr Reed said: “We take no comfort from the decision to extend the consultation timetable until September 1 as it is likely to be a ruse to fend off any legal action rather than a rethink.”





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