Stephen Morgan MP is lobbying the Secretary of State for Transport and South Western Railway to express concern over the impact of ticket office closures on elderly and disabled constituents, and those employed in our rail industry.
It comes as train officers confirmed this week Government plans to shut down almost all of the 1,007 remaining offices in England, except at the busiest stations, within three years in an attempt to “modernise” the railway. Ticket offices in Portsmouth and Southsea, Fratton, and Portsmouth Harbour will reportedly be facing closure.
Mr Morgan, a regular rail user himself, has said the news will be deeply worrying to elderly and disabled constituents, the hundreds of thousands of people employed in our rail industry, the staff employed in Portsmouth and all those who rely on the support and advice provided by staff in ticket offices.
According to Government data one in nine tickets are sold at physical ticket offices, representing over 150 million of the 1.4 billion rail journeys recorded over the last year.
Many passengers relying on ticket offices are elderly and disabled that may otherwise struggle to use digital alternatives.
Research by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), for instance, has found that only 3% of people with sight loss said they could use a ticket vending machine without problems and 58% said it was impossible.
Commenting on the news, Portsmouth MP Stephen Morgan said:
“Passengers in Portsmouth are already suffering due to the chaos on our railways.
Under this Government, private operators have been allowed to profit whilst cancellations have reached record highs, basic services like Wi-Fi are at risk of being taken away, plans to bring forward legislation to reform services have been scrapped, and now ticket offices are facing closures without thought for the vulnerable users that rely on them.
I will be working to ensure passengers are offered vital assurances that they will still have access to the support they need to use our rail network with confidence.”
If you would like to raise specific concerns with Mr Morgan, please get in touch via email at stephen.morgan.mp@parliament.uk
To respond to South Western Railways’ consultation visit https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/ticket-office-consultation/ or write to RTEH-XAGE-BYKZ, Transport Focus, PO Box 5594, Southend on Sea, SS1 9PZ.
