Campaigners visit Walsall railway station to protect over ticket office station proposals
Campaigners have turned out at a railway station in the Black Country to protect a potential move from the Government to axe ticket offices nationally.
Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) along with others paid a visit to Walsall railway station on Tuesday.
It was part of a national protest against plans to close down 1,000 ticket offices in England and comes amid other strike action affecting the rail sector.
The potential closure was reported earlier this year by The Times although the Department for Transport has stated "no final decision" has been made.
John Watson, RMT Midlands' regional organiser, said: "There's been the ongoing strikes from the RMT and now the TSSA (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association) over potential redundancies and also asking for a pay rise for staff.
"And the Government's (plans) will see the closure of every single booking office they have responsibility for. We have started a campaign to keep open all the booking offices, the first day (was on Tuesday) and we were trying to get people to lobby their MPs and the getting other groups on board like the Pensioners' Convention and disability groups to support us to fight those Government proposals."
Mr Watson said the move was for the protection of jobs as well as accessibility reasons, with elderly and disabled people potentially most affected by the move.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that the proposed closure of nearly 1,000 ticket offices were clearly about protecting the profits of train companies by further de-staffing the rail network.
“As well as thousands of job losses this will obviously create accessibility problems for the elderly, people with disabilities and overseas visitors who may not have English as their first language," he said.
"Without ticket offices and on station support, huge swathes of passengers could be excluded from the railways altogether."
The Government and railway firms across the region have maintained no decision has been made over the potential closures.
A West Midlands Railway spokesman said: "No decisions have been taken on the future of ticket offices. At a national level, the rail industry and Government are considering how staff at railway stations can help passengers in the most efficient and effective way possible.”
