Closure of ticket office protest

Local residents rally against ticket office closures

Thousands of ticket offices are under threat around the country, in a move that would hit elderly and disabled passengers hardest

. On 23 August, residents of Hastings and St Leonards staged a photocall protest outside St Leonards Warrior Square station, as part of a national day of action against planned ticket office closures. The ticket office at St Leonards Warrior Square is one of the almost 1,000 ticket offices marked for closure in secret government plans that were revealed earlier this year [1].

 Local resident and campaigner, Gabriel Carlyle from Hastings Supports the Railworkers writes.

The national day of action was called by the RMT and We Own It, which campaigns to bring public services back into public ownership [2].
 

According to a new poll, a majority of people want water, energy, rail, buses, Royal Mail and the NHS to be run in the public sector, with 67% of the public wanting railways in public ownership. [3]

 RMT General Secretary, Mick Lynch has said: ‘The floodgates have now opened for the annihilation of ticket offices. Ticket office staff make sure our railways are safe, secure and accessible. Wholesale ticket office closures would be disastrous and leave our railway deserted. Disabled and elderly passengers will be particularly affected.’

Cat Hobbs, We Own It’s director said: ‘Privatisation has failed for nearly 40 years. Politicians can’t ignore the truth any longer – these monopolies are a cash cow for shareholders around the world and we need to take them back. We need energy companies that don’t rip us off, public transport that works for passengers, water companies that don’t pour sewage into our rivers. We call on the government to bring energy, water, public transport and the Royal Mail into public ownership, and to reinstate our NHS as a fully public service. Labour and all opposition parties must commit to public ownership. The clue’s in the name – public services are supposed to work for us, the public.’

St Leonards resident Erica Smith, who took part in this morning’s protest, said: ‘We could save a billion pounds every year from taking our railway into public ownership, yet instead of taking our trains into public ownership and reinvesting profits into cutting ticket prices and keeping ticket offices open, the government is protecting private companies and cutting facilities passengers depend on instead. This will hit elderly and disabled passengers hardest. It’s just not on.’

NOTES
[1] https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2022-05-09/imminent-closure-risk-as-thousands-of-ticket-offices-face-annihilation
[2] https://weownit.org.uk/blog/we-own-it-and-rmt-are-joining-forces-oppose-ticket-office-closures
[3] https://www.survation.com/new-poll-public-strongly-backing-public-ownership-of-energy-and-key-utilities/

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