Rail ticket office closures an attack on disabled - Hull councillor

Hull Paragon Interchange is one of the stations affected by the planned ticket office closures

A blind Hull councillor has said plans to close rail station ticket offices feel like a personal attack on her and other people with disabilities.

Councillor Tracy Dearing said she could not use ticket vending machines and find help because she cannot see.

Up to 1,000 ticket booths in England are proposed to close, including those at Hull Paragon Station.

The Rail Delivery Group said only 12% of tickets were now bought at ticket offices and staff would be redeployed.

But trade unions, MPs and councillors have all condemned the plans as an attack on staff and passengers.

Councillor Tracy Dearing said the proposals would be another barrier for disabled people who want to travel independently

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, figures show that one ticket was sold from Hull Paragon Station's ticket office every 1.6 minutes on average last year and almost three-fifths of blind people find it impossible to use ticket machines.

Ms Dearing, a Labour councillor, said she feared the proposals could end independent travel for the blind.

"I'm really sad about this, I strongly oppose these changes by rail operators," she said.

"As a blind person, this feels like a personal attack. Getting to where you need to go is an absolute, fundamental right."

'Easy hit'

Without staffed ticket offices, passengers will need to book tickets online or use vending machines at stations.

Ms Dearing said both purchase mediums were not "accessible to me".

"I can't use the vending machines because I can't see the options and the touch screens aren't tactile.

"That means if they close the ticket office I won't be able to travel on my own anymore, that isn't independence or equality.

"It feels like the operators feel that this is an easy hit because disabled people don't have a voice.

"It's profit over people, modernisation shouldn't mean leaving anyone behind."

Tracy Brabin said she and four other mayors were "united" to fight the impact of closures on the "most vulnerable"

While some ticket kiosks would remain in large stations, elsewhere staff would sell tickets on concourses.

A 21-day public consultation on the proposals is set to end on Wednesday.

Five Labour mayors said they were preparing a legal challenge over the proposals, which train companies said were part of cost-cutting measures.

The Department for Transport previously said the proposed changes was about "enhancing the role of station workers and getting staff out from behind ticket office screens" and helping people on concourses and platforms.

Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the rail delivery group, said there had been a decline in ticket sales from offices and the planned move would free up staff to help travellers.