TAKE ACTION TO SAVE RAIL TICKET OFFICES

RMT launches campaign for members to take part in public consultations on planned ticket office closures

RMT is asking members and the public to take action now to oppose the government and train companies’ plans for closing all ticket offices.

Currently any proposals from the train companies are subject to public consultation overseen by the passenger watchdogs Transport Focus and London Travelwatch and run for three weeks. At the end of the public consultation, the watchdogs either accept or object the train companies’ proposals. If they object, and agreement cannot be reached with the train company, it is referred to the government to adjudicate.

The government has now cynically changed its guidance to remove the ‘busy’ threshold (averaging over 12 transactions an hour), effectively paving the way for widespread ticket office closures.

It has also said that it’s not going to hold a public consultation on the changes to its guidance, despite the significant ramifications for passengers.

It is not known if the 14 train companies managed by the Department of Transport will stagger their applications for ticket office closures or whether they will be submitted at the same time.

One of the key concerns about ticket office closures is the impact of the accessibility of the railway. RMT has been working with a wide range of groups representing disabled, deaf and older people to oppose these closures on the grounds that it will represent a worsening in the accessibility of the railway.

A roundtable meeting with RMT ticket office reps and disabled members from the train companies has also been convened to draw on the expertise and knowledge of members in fighting these cynical and short-sighted cuts.

The union will soon be publicising model responses to the public consultations, which members will be asked to submit and share widely with colleagues and the public.

It is vital that when the train companies submit proposals for ticket office closures that as many responses as possible are submitted to the Transport Focus/London Travelwatch public consultations objecting to the closures and. What can you do now to protect our ticket offices?

• Ticket office members should think about the reasons why closing ticket offices is bad for passengers in terms of service, range of rail products, safety, accessibility etc and feed these into your reps.

• Build local contacts, including with groups representing disabled and older people.

• Write to your MP, and local councillors, asking them to support their ticket offices staying open.

• Speak to passengers, they may not realise their ticket office is under threat.

• Sign and share RMT’s petitionhttps://www.megaphone.or g.uk/petitions/cut-theirprofits-not-our-ticket-offices

• Be ready to respond to and mobilise around the public consultation when your train company does put in its proposals for ticket office closures.

• Make sure we have your up-to-date contact details

• If any of your ticket office colleagues are not in the union, encourage them to join. They can do so online here –https://www.rmt.org.uk/abo ut/join-rmt/

• Request ticket office campaign materials by emailing s.ward@rmt.org.uk