Blind commuter slams rail ticket office closure plans

A blind Royal Navy veteran who regularly uses the railway has slammed plans to close train ticket offices.

Penny Melville-Brown, from Fareham, said the proposals discriminated against people living with sight loss.

The disability rights campaigner has written an open letter explaining how difficult commuting would be and criticising the consultation process.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train companies, said it was engaging with accessibility groups.

Ms Melville-Brown cannot use self-service ticket machine because of her sight loss

Under the proposals, some ticket kiosks would remain in large stations, but elsewhere staff will be on concourses to sell tickets, offer travel advice and help people with accessibility.

"I have no idea where to go, where to get help - I don't see anything," said Ms Melville-Brown, a former commander who was the first female barrister in the Royal Navy.

"It's only if I'm lucky enough to get a member of the public who helps me that I can actually find a member of the station staff to give me the assistance I need."

She added that the 21-day consultation process had been "extraordinarily inaccessible".

"It's a very tight timescale, a lot of it is online stuff which when you can't see is very difficult to get to," she said.

Ms Melville-Brown regularly uses Fareham railway station

Ms Melville-Brown was awarded an OBE in 2009 for services to disabled and disadvantaged people and has become a baker following her time in the navy, winning an international prize in recognition of her career achievements.

But she said she was not sure how she could keep working if ticket kiosks closed as planned.

"I've been going to Fareham and other local stations for nearly 30 years independently - I actually know some of the ticket office staff, I can recognise their voices, I know where they are," she said.

"I don't want to be on a platform concourse trying to make an exchange with cash or with my debit card to somebody I don't know - it could be anybody. How would I recognise that this is a member of the station staff?

"I don't have huge problems with making things modern and work better for everybody but when you design new systems you need to start your designing with the people who are going to have the most problems... not do it for the great masses and then tinker around the edges - or not - for those who need more help."

Ms Melville-Brown was medically discharged from the Royal Navy in 1999 but has continued to work

She added that without a ticket office at stations she was left "vulnerable" and at "risk of theft and scams".

RDG said it was continuing to listen to views during the consultation period.

A spokesperson added: "You will still be able to book assistance two hours in advance of your journey either using the Passenger Assist app or via a dedicated phoneline available 24/7 and you will always be able to access help and advice from a trained representative.

"The commitment to 20 minutes turn up and go will be maintained.

"These improvements aim to provide an inclusive and barrier-free travel experience for everyone by bringing staff out from ticket offices and into ticket halls and concourses, where they give a much wider range of support to passengers, especially those with accessibility needs."

'Modernise stations'

The Department for Transport said: "We have been consistently honest about the need for our railways to modernise if they are going to survive.

"Reviewing the role of ticket offices - with the least busy selling only one ticket an hour - is a crucial part of this."

A South Western Railway spokesperson said: "In proposing to modernise stations, the industry has pledged that customers with accessibility needs will always be supported and that no staffed station will become unstaffed, with all colleagues upskilled to support customers with their journeys, including purchasing tickets and providing travel advice."