The impact of train station ticket office closures on the vision impaired.
With the RMT announcing fresh industrial action for the 20th, 22nd and 29th of July, there seems little prospect of a negotiated settlement to a dispute, that has caused significant disruption for passengers up and down the country, any time soon. Unsurprisingly, the most commonly heard reason for this action is a dispute over pay. However, there are also a number of proposed changes to working conditions and the way the railways operate that are proving to be major stumbling blocks in terms of finding a resolution.
As highlighted in a recent episode of In Touch, one of the proposals is to close ticket offices with the idea of having more staff on the station itself, including on station platforms. This has sparked controversy, particularly for vision impaired people who rely on ticket offices to both plan journeys and to purchase tickets. So is this as bad a proposal as is being made out?
Put simply, it depends on your confidence, or lack of, when it comes to technology. For example, I buy my train tickets on my iPhone using Trainline and I find this really easy and convenient in most cases, as I can add my ticket to my phone’s wallet and can have it purchased before I leave the house, which gives me more time to focus on getting on the train. However, this does not work if the ticket you have purchased, such as a Day Travel Card for TfL zones one to six, which are only available as paper tickets. If using your smart phone, this means printing the ticket of from a station machine, which isn’t accessible if you have a vision impairment, as it set up as a touch screen with no built-in assistive technology. In such a situation, a ticket office is essential.
However, many people lose their sight later in life and as a consequence, a significant number of vision impaired people are unable to use smartphones, meaning that a ticket office is the only means available if they wish to travel by train legitimately. Closing ticket offices therefore risks excluding those who are not technologically literate from the rail network.
The argument proposed by the government and the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operating companies, is that the use of ticket offices has significantly declined and that closing them allows more staff to be available at stations to assist passengers with, for example, buying tickets. On the other hand, unions argue that this will result in job losses. It is clearly too early to say who is right or wrong. But if ticket offices are to close, CrystalEyes suggests that two key things need to happen:
- All tickets should be accessible via a smartphone, as this is crucial for vision impaired people to be able to maintain as much independence as possible.
- For those who cannot use smartphones, all stations need to be staffed during opening hours so that support with buying tickets can continue to be provided to those who need it most.