Railways: Tickets

(asked on 3rd July 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that blind and partially-sighted people continue to have access to ticket offices at railway stations.


Answered by
Huw Merriman Portrait
Huw Merriman
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
This question was answered on 10th July 2023

When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of disabled passengers; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider all equality related needs and make this clear in their consultation.

Together with the industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes, and train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

Station staff will still provide face-to-face services on the railways, which assists those who need additional support, and cannot or do not want to use contactless or mobile tickets. All staff in customer facing roles or with managed responsibilities undertake enhanced disability awareness training and TOCs are already required to provide this. These reforms will not affect these arrangements.

The Department recently hosted roundtable discussions with industry and accessibility and transport groups to discuss this matter and ensure their views are understood. We continue to engage with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee through the process.

Reticulating Splines