Union leaders are seeking urgent talks over the future of railway ticket offices amid rumours of mass closures. The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) said a newspaper report of plans to close every ticket office in England from September was “explosive”.
The union, which is balloting hundreds of its members for industrial action over pay and jobs, warned that closing ticket offices would increase the likelihood of strikes. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said no decision had been taken on ticket offices.
The TSSA said plans to close ticket offices, as reported in the Sunday Times, and moving to online-only sales would badly impact millions of elderly, disabled and disadvantaged people who are unable or far less able to use online services yet still need to access public transport.
The union said it was seeking an urgent meeting with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps over the report and previous rumours and requests for clarity.
Manuel Cortes, TSSA general secretary, said: “Trust has hit rock bottom between rail workers and bosses in both the industry and government. We’ve been asking for clarity on rumours about ticket office closures for months but no proposals have been shared with us or the staff who work day in day out serving passengers.
“This Government has no respect for rail staff or passengers if they think this is the way to run our public transport services. The Government has badly miscalculated the reaction this will have from staff and passengers who rely on and value station staff. This will simply make more members vote for strike action.”
An RDG spokesperson said: “The pandemic has been an unprecedented financial shock to the railway. While no decisions have been taken over ticket offices, with the acceleration of changing travel patterns and more passengers migrating to digital technology, many jobs will need to change to become more passenger-centric.
“Train companies want to work with unions on how to address those changes while making sure the industry takes no more than its fair share from the taxpayer.”
