The proposed closure of most rail ticket offices across the country is a concern for many disabled people. The picture is mixed across Sheffield and nearby destinations in terms of the impact. Read on to find out more about the proposed cuts and how to make your voice heard most effectively on how this might impact you.
In our region, Sheffield will be one of the very few stations proposed to retain its ticket office with a small reduction in hours at the start and end of the day. For all other South Yorkshire stations run by Northern they propose to close the ticket office, and in most cases make the station unstaffed. Over the border into Chesterfield, the ticket office would close, and staffing provision is vague with no specific proposed hours defined. The fear is this would mean a single person who would either be prioritising retail or assistance but could not do both.
At this stage, the most important thing you can do is record your reasons why the changes at specific stations are not acceptable and share them with Transport Focus (details follow later).
Some things to think about before responding
It might be for you that as long as you get help to buy a ticket, the office is not relevant but the member of staff is vital for other reasons. Sadly however, only ticket office changes and closures are subject to a formal consultation before closure, not wider staffing hours. For this reason, we encourage you to indicate opposition until the gaps in protection are closed. Put simply, accessibility support should not be reduced at all, and robust protection and reliability for assistance should be in place prior to any modernisation going forward. That must include looking at the issues wholistically.
For this reason Disability Sheffield are asking you to CC us in your responses to Passenger Focus so we can work alongside Sheffield Transport 4 All and other organisations to prepare evidence for the Transport Select Committee in the weeks following the formal consultation on individual ticket offices. Knowing the fuller perspective of more disabled people will build a better picture of the impacts and changes for the better.
You can find out more about the proposed changes for Northern stations here https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/consultation-2023 , and East Midlands Railway stations here https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/modernisation-consultation .
Make sure you include whether it will hinder or even stop you using the train why, and how this will impact your life and/or dignity. Consider also any situations where you have or will need to travel unplanned or at times outside of the core of the day etc. It is really important you look at the details for each station you raise concerns about to make your response as impactful as possible.
Responding to the consultation
You must share your views with Passenger Focus by the *1st of September for them to contribute towards the formal consultation. We recommend responding by email to Passenger Focus. Ensure you are clear about which station you are writing about (and send multiple emails if necessary):
- For Sheffield (remember the ticket office is not proposed to close in Sheffield) or Chesterfield ticketoffice.emr@transportfocus.org.uk and consider CCing consultations@disabilitysheffield.org.uk .
- For Meadowhall, Barnsley, Rotherham, Worksop, Mexborough and Swinton, read the proposals here, and send your thoughts to ticketoffice.Northern@transportfocus.org.uk and consider CCing consultations@disabilitysheffield.org.uk .
If you have any other enquiries on this matter or would like to be involved on this topic in the future then please do email consultations@disabilitysheffield.org.uk .
