THE general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union leader Mick Lynch has called the consultation on railway ticket office closures a ‘sham’.
The move to automate many stations and greatly reduce staff has met with a wave of protest and condemnation, with Mr Lynch accusing the British government of orchestrating the rail companies' response to negotiations.
The proposal to close large numbers of ticketing offices is the latest in a number of disputes between the rail unions, the rail companies and the government.
In mid-July the Transport Committee re-opened its call for evidence as part of its inquiry into Accessible Transport. The decision to re-open submissions came after train operating companies launched consultations into plans to close over 300 ticket offices across the rail network. Protests at the move, and the lack of consultation caused the House of Commons committee to reopen the process. This closed on September 1 after being extended, with more than 680,000 responses being received.
Disability campaigners and older potential passengers said that they would virtually become marooned if ticket offices became fully automated. Indeed some had difficulty attending the committee to give evidence because of already reduced staffing levels.
The consultation responses are now being examined and collated by the official watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch. They will go through these responses and weigh up access and staffing logistics for each individual station closure. Their decision will then be forwarded to the governments Department of Transport and its minister, Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper. This is the part of the process that Mick Lynch disagrees with — the fact that Minister Harper will have the last word. He believes the Tory government is ramming all the rail legislation through.
Mick Lynch and Minister Mark Harper already have ‘form’, with the RMT leader having called out the Conservative MP for not telling the truth about previous negotiations — an accusation that was refuted.
The House of Commons committee took wide consultation. Mick Lynch told the committee: “We think the whole thing has been a sham designed to be rammed through while people were looking the other way.
“It all goes back to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State initiated these changes through the contracts he has with the TOCs (train operating companies). He directs everything they do these days, every letter that’s sent, he gets access to. “Of course, if the watchdogs object (to the closures) on the limited basis they’re allowed to, the decision will end up with him as well. The Transport Committee is made up of six members, six of whom are Conservatives, four are Labour and one SNP.
Mick Lynch was born in Paddington to parents from Co. Cork and Co. Armagh. They emigrated to Britain during the Second World War — his father was a labourer and latterly a postman; his mother a cleaner.
