July 14, 2023

Proposed Closures to Railway Ticket Offices

There is a proposal by the Rail Delivery Group to close 974 ticket offices at railway stations across the country. This will pose unimaginable barriers for people with little or no sight.

The Rail Delivery Group says person-operated ticket facilities will only be available at the busiest stations.

Devon in Sight’s Chief Executive, Grahame Flynn says, “Millions of people across the nation are struggling with feelings of loneliness, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. People who are Blind and Partially Sighted have been particularly affected.

The proposed changes to close the majority of railway ticket offices poses a real disadvantage to people with a sight loss condition, who may not be able to rely on buying their train tickets without assistance, online or via an app. We would strongly

encourage people to have their say on the plans and fight for a service they rely on.”

The consultation runs until Wednesday 26 July 2023.

You can send a letter with your views to a freepost address:

RTEH-XAGE-BYKZ, Transport Focus, PO Box 5594, Southend on Sea, SS1 9PZ.

For those of you with computer access, you can contact London Travel Watch which is the statutory rail passenger watchdog that will review all consultation responses, before making a recommendation for any next steps.

Follow this link: https://www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/

You can also do this by sending a letter to your local railway operator, or digitally via the Transport Focus form.

Follow this link. https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/

Thomas Pocklington Trust has also set up an online template letter which can be automatically sent to your local MP to address concerns. Follow this link to the letter template: https://tpt.eaction.org.uk/wrongtrack

If you have any questions that you would like to ask, please call the helpline on 01392 876 666.

Yours sincerely

Grahame Flynn

Chief Executive Officer

Devon in Sight