Penultimate post in this thread. Guardian write-up of today's announcement: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/31/rail-ticket-office-closures-in-england-train-operators
Here's a pull quote of SoS Mark Harper's statement today, the entire thing is doublespeak.
Good news, Transport Focus says (tho FYI their website is very slow right now):
> Transport Focus is objecting to all of the current proposals to close ticket offices.
There is a response to each of the individual TOC proposals. I will look for expert comment on these this evening and share.
Thank you to everyone who replied to the consultation and boosted posts from this thread.
https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/train-station-ticket-office-consultation/
Transport Focus's website is down ...
The inaptly named "passenger bodies" report on the consultation tomorrow, 31 Oct.
My own expectation is that plans to close ticket offices will go ahead, though it could go slower (with pilots run) or faster. There is already evidence of destaffing due to not filling vacancies created by staff turnover.
House of Commons Transport Committee has written to the DfT having heard evidence from a range of stakeholders on proposals to shut ticket offices.
(Fwiw, I'm not feeling optimistic.)
#NotJustTheTicket #SaveOurTicketOffices #disabled
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/41805/documents/207168/default/
Update on Sarah Leadbetter and Doug Paulley's judicial review of the consultation. Supported by Transport for All and the @rnib.
> The pair are calling for the consultations to be declared unlawful and any decision to close ticket offices based on their results to be quashed.
Taking a break from the usual programming in this #NotJustTheTicket thread to be really, really angry about cancellation of HS2.
From Jackie Sadek: HS2: a textbook train wreck for the UK economy.
https://www.egi.co.uk/news/hs2-a-textbook-train-wreck-for-the-uk-economy/
On the problems caused by the closure of railway ticket offices in Japan, via London Reconnections.
[NB: this article mentions the death of a blind passenger at an unstaffed station.]
DfT continues to refuse to release their Equality Impact Assessment for proposed ticket office closures.
I guess it's useful that there's now a robust defence of their institutional inability to work with disabled people on transport policy in the public domain.
If you want a case study of weaponization of bureaucracy this one will have a lot of material.
Following an internal review, the Department for Transport (DfT) have defended their decision to withhold their Equality and Impact Assessment of ticket office closures, arguing that to release it now would be “distracting”.
Also, please do note that the DfT's protestation against releasing the Equality Impact Assessment was ...
🥁
that ministers and officials needed a "safe space away from public scrutiny" in which to formulate policy.
Ann 🧡 (she/her)
