Unstaffed stations will threaten disabled people’s ability to travel
Transport for All
Older and disabled people may be left...
Older and disabled people may be left without any assistance at ninety four London stations if proposals to cut station staff go ahead.
Under recommendations being considered by the Government, stations across the country may be left without staff. This would severely compromise many disabled and older people’s ability to travel independently.
The McNulty review, which examines the future of the UK’s railways, suggests closing 675 ticket offices across the country, cutting up to 1,000 ticket office jobs. On many stations, ticket office staff are the only staff available, potentially leaving the station unstaffed.
Last year, Transport for All, together with unions, demonstrated outside City Hall at the Mayor’s decision to cut the jobs of 650 station staff and leave ticket offices unstaffed through much of the day. Complaints from disabled people about arriving at unstaffed stations and being unable to buy a ticket; or being left stranded without assistance to disembark from a train, are becoming more widespread.
Sallyanne Currie lives in Haringey and frequently travels to Crawley and Redhill to see family. She said: “It’s about safety. If you are travelling, if there’s a member of staff there, you know you’ll be secure, you know you can talk to a member of staff if something is not right. If those ticket offices close, it will make it difficult for my son to get up to London. It would affect us in a big way.“
Gaps between platforms and trains mean that many wheelchair users require staff assistance to board or disembark from a train. Without the confidence that a member of staff will be available, some disabled people will be unable to travel solo. Transport for All believe it’s unacceptable that wheelchair users could be left unable to travel independently.
Blind and visually impaired people too risk being left unable to travel independently at unfamiliar stations if no staff are available to assist or guide.
A report from Scope recently showed that more than half of disabled people say they have experienced hostility, aggression or violence from a stranger because of their condition or impairment (56%); and 47% had experienced some form of discrimination on public transport.
Fear of harassment and abuse will only rise if stations are left unstaffed, and disabled and older people forced to wait on empty platforms.
- How will you be affected by unstaffed stations? Have you already encountered stations without any available staff?
Please let us know by the end of September: we will include your responses in a letter to Transport Minister Philip Hammond, and with your permission, publish some on our website.
A list of the stations in London which may be left unstaffed is below. A full list of UK ticket office closures recommended in the McNulty review can be found here.
Beckenham Hill
Belvedere
Blackhorse Road
Bowes Park
Brentford
Brimsdown
Brixton
Brondesbury
Brondesbury Park
Bruce Grove
Byfleet and New Haw
Caledonian Road & Barnesbury
Castle Bar Park
Chiswick
Christs Hospital
Cricklewood
Crofton Park
Crouch Hill
Dagenham Dock
Denham
Deptford
Drayton Park
East Dulwich
East Tilbury
Elephant & Castle
Essex Road
Farringdon
Finchley Road & Frognal
Gipsy Hill
Grange Park
Hackbridge
Hackney Wick
Hale
Hanwell
Harlesden
Harringay Green Lanes
Hatch End
Haydons Road
Headstone Lane
Hendon
Homerton
Imperial Wharf
Kensal Green
Kensal Rise
Kentish Town West
Kenton
Kilburn High Road
Knockhold
Ladywell
Leyton Midland Road
Leytonstone High Road
Limehouse
Moorgate
New Beckenham
New Southgate
North Dulwich
North Sheen
North Wembley
Northolt Park
Northumberland Park
Nunhead
Old Street
Penge West
Queens Road
Ravensbourne
Rectory Road
Slade Geen
South Acton
South Bermondsey
South Hampstead
South Kenton
South Tottenham
Southbourne
Southbury
St Johns
Stamford Hill
Stoke Newington
Sundridge Park
Sydenham Hill
Tooting
Totton
Turkey Street
Upper Holloway
Waltham Cross
Walthamstow Queens Road
Wanstead Park
West Brompton
West Drayton
West Dulwich
West Ealing
West Hampstead
West Sutton
White Hart Lane
Woodgrange Park
Woollwich Dockyard
