Demo at King’s Cross against cuts to rail staff
Transport for All
Disabled and older people joined up with...
Disabled and older people joined up with rail staff to send a strong message to MPs: our freedom to travel safely and confidently depends on visible, available staff on trains and at stations.
The McNulty Report, on the future of the rail industry, proposed the loss of 20,000 jobs across the UK’s rail network including 7,000 on train staff, 5,00 station and platform staff and over 2,000 ticket office clerks.
Our action kicked off with a lobby at Parliament. Transport for All member Marsha de Cordova spoke passionately against cutting the number of rail staff:
“As a visually impaired person, I use train travel frequently. Without staff assistance, I am unable to navigate safely around station, that goes for both unfamiliar and familiar surroundings, especially in poorly lit stations and during winter months. Many of the refurbished stations such as St Pancras St [no colour contrast, more use of glass panelling which reflects light]. making orientation very difficult, making me more reliant on assistance from staff cutting staff numbers equals impossible to travel safely.
“One thing that’s for certain, without the assistance of rail and station staff it would be virtually impossible for me to travel“.
“She needs to know there is a human being available there to help“
Representatives from Trailblazers, National Pensioners Convention, Disabled People Against Cuts also spoke about the necessity of trained staff in offering advice and assistance. Shadow Transport Minister Yvonne Fovargue told how one of her constituents had had her guidedog fall between the train and the platform. Luckily, a member of staff was present to come to her aid. “She needs to know there is a human being available there to help them, should she need it“, Fovargue told the audience. “Not a help point button to press that she can’t see, but a human being to help her.“
Rebecca Barnes, from TSSA, spoke powerfully about how cuts at her station had impacted on her ability to assist disabled passengers. “The first time I found myself surplus to requirement I was replaced by a self service ticket vending machine. Self service machines are daunting and frustrating for elderly and those with learning difficulties and basically useless for blind people. I regularly witness passengers struggling to operate the machines and they report to my ticket window.“
“We only have one platform staff member per shift available to assist passengers with poor mobility, with access to the station wheelchair ramps, unfortunately this staff member has to divide their time between two, sometimes three other stations and is often not available to assist.“
“No guarantee” there will be no staff cuts
Norman Baker, the Transport Minister, stated that he was “fully committed to making trains and stations and indeed buses and taxis even more accessible than they are“, but stopped short of guaranteeing there would not be reductions to the number of staff at stations, claiming that with the shift to buying tickets online, it might be sensible to reduce staff numbers at some ticket offices.
Following the lobby, activists travelled to King’s Cross station, where we handed out postcards to commuters and urged them to support the campaign for staffed stations.
- Write to your MP and tell them how cuts to staff would affect your ability to travel. There’s a quick ‘Email your MP’ option on the Action for Rail website: http://campaign.actionforrail.org/page/speakout/stop-staff-cuts-on-our-railways
