IAN LAVERY MP Working for Wansbeck
The announcement that Morpeth Train Station ticket office is set to close is yet another disaster of privatisation that continues to rip our public services to shreds.
Sadly, the majority of train stations will now no longer be safe, accessible places for elderly and disabled passengers who rely on the support of ticket office staff to navigate ticketing and travel arrangements as well as to help them on and off the trains.
Never mind rail operators talking about modernisation, this decision has been made entirely to increase their profit and filter more money into the pockets of the ultra-rich, while ordinary hard working people are left to make do with further cuts to their safety and convenience on public transport.
The Ashington, Blyth and Tyne line which is set to open soon will now be without a manned office anywhere on the line. Whilst funding for the line remains in place it continues a pattern of disinvestment with the scheme scaled back, further cuts sought and now a failure to provide staffing at stations. Organisations representing workers and passengers have expressed their concerns about the disgraceful decision to leave stations without staff leaving vulnerable people at risk.
The communities this line will serve have disproportionate levels of industrial illness and disease meaning passengers are more likely to need assistance when travelling. There has already been concern raised at the unimaginative nature of the station designs but the fact they will be completely unstaffed will make travelling almost impossible for many. There are also significant concerns over the potential for the station buildings to become magnets for antisocial behaviour made worse by a lack of presence from rail workers.
It is an absolute disgrace that no staff will be present to assist those who need it. We are in danger of having what should be a Rolls Royce system with no driver. I will be seeking a meeting with the Secretary of State to raise the injustice of this.
The RMT have been warning that these cuts have been coming down the road for months yet it was repeatedly denied by the Rail Delivery Group. Not only is this news devastating for those who rely on ticket offices for safe travelling, but shows that the negotiations with the rail unions over the past 12 months have not been conducted in good faith.
Technology should be used at train stations and on trains to enhance and improve the experience, not to push through more draconian cuts to jobs and services to make it harder and less pleasant to travel in the name of profit and corporate greed.
I will continue to do what I can to fight back against this decision and in the long run bring our rail back into public hands where it belongs, ran for the people rather than for profit.
To have your voice heard to oppose these changes email Northern Rail before the 26th July at ticketoffice.Northern@transportfocus.org.uk and say why you are against the closure of Morpeth ticket office.