Rail ticket office closures will lead to job losses, a transport minister has said, as Conservative MPs raised “huge concerns” over the impact on passengers.
The rail minister, Huw Merriman, said in the Commons on Thursday that the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union should take some responsibility for job losses.
Train operators on Wednesday confirmed the government’s proposals 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.
Some Tory MPs have criticised the measures, saying the “inadequate” technology at train stations will not be able to replace fully trained staff at ticket offices, leaving vulnerable passengers at risk of being unable to seek help.
The shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said the proposals were “merely a prelude for job losses”. She said: “They have already ditched plans for GB rail; it’s not about modernisation, his department has already confirmed the contactless ticket rollout is limited to London and the south-east.
“This is about one thing and one thing only: the Conservatives crashed the economy and now they are asking for more self-defeating cuts on our declining railways.”
Merriman said: “She does talk about job losses though, Mr Speaker. And in the event that there are some that don’t wish to make that transition, then of course the train operators will need to look to that.
“The sad reality of this situation is that there is an offer on the table which would have guaranteed no compulsory redundancies up to December 2024. But the union leaders refuse to put that offer to their members. So if there is any impact on job concerns then perhaps the RMT, and those who they back financially, might wish to take some responsibility for that.”
Criticising technology at stations, the former justice secretary Robert Buckland said: “Residents in Swindon had a taste of things to come yesterday, potentially, when the ticket office was closed and people were queueing out of the door to deal with the wholly inadequate machines that are at the station. Wifi was unreliable as well.
“Isn’t the truth this: that if we are to proceed with this significant change then the technology that is available to customers has to be significantly better?”
Iain Stewart, the chair of the Commons transport select committee, urged the government to ensure vulnerable passengers would still be able to seek assistance. “We have received alarming evidence that the quality and range of assistance to vulnerable passengers has declined markedly since the pandemic,” he said.
Another Tory, Bob Neill, the chair of the justice select committee, accused the government of rushing through the measures. “Does the minister accept that 21 days is a very short period for such an important consultation?” he said. “Will he give an undertaking that no staff will be removed until cast-iron arrangements are in place for somebody to be in attendance on those stations to assist people throughout all the hours that a station is operating?”
